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Fig. 1.— The External Parts of the Horse 

15. Belly 

16. Brisket 

17. Croup 

18. Thigh 

19. Gaskin 

20. Hock 



1. Head 

2. Neck 

3. Shoulder 

4. Withers 

5. Forearm 

6. Knee 

7. Shank 



8. Fetlock 

9. Pastern 

10. Hoof 

11. Back 

12. Ribs 

13. Loin 

14. Flank 



The Horse 

And How to Care 
for Him 

BY 

C. T. Davies 



HOW TO CHOOSE A HORSE, 
TELL HIS AGE, FEED, 
STABLE, HARNESS AND 
TRAIN HIM, AND KEEP 
HIM IN GOOD HEALTH 



Philadelphia 
The Penn Publishing Company 

1911 



^^"J 



Copyright 1911 by The Penn Publishing Company 



©CU2S9471 



Contents 

I. The Selection of a House . . 7 

II. How TO Tell a Hoese's Age . . 31 

III. Sound and Unsound Horses . . 54 

IV. Stables and Appliances . . .87 
V. Food 104 

VI. Stable Management . . , 114 

VII. Feeding and Watering . . . 128 

VIII. The Care of the Feet . . .140 

IX. Cost of Keeping a Horse . . 144 

X. Hints on Breaking and Driving . 150 

XI. Common Ailments . . . .170 

Index 181 



Illustrations 



Fig. 1 
Plate I 



— The External Parts of the Horse 



Page 
Fronfifpiece 
13 



The 

Fig. 2. Chest too wide 

Fig. 3. Good chest 

Fig. 4. Hocks turued in 

Fig. 5. Good hocks 
Plate II.— Fig. 6. Calf knee 

Fig. 7. Over at Knee , 

Fig. 8. Splint 

Fig. 9. Ewe neck and straight shoulder 

Fig. 10 Curb 

Fig. 11. Spavin 

Fig. 12. Good hock 

Fig. 13. Good neck and sloping shoulder 
Fig. 14. — Lower jaw at two and a half years 
Fig. 15.— Lower jaw at three and a half years 
Fig. 16. — Lower jaw at four and a half years 
Fig. 17. — Lower jaw at five years 
Fig. 18. — Lower jaw at six years . 
Fig. 19. — Lower jaw at seven years 
Fig. 20. — Lower jaw at eight years 
Fig. 21. — Lower jaw at nine years 
Fig. 22. — Lower jaw at ten years . 
Fig. 23, — Lower jaw at twelve years 
Fig. 24. — Lower jaw at fifteen years 
Fig. 25. — Lower jaw at twenty years 
Fig. 26. — Diagram of the inner side of the off hock 
Fig. 27. — Diagram of the outer side of off fore leg 
Fig. 28. — Showing horse bitted up ready to lead ; also 
showing position of reins in long rein driv 

iug 

5 



13 
13 
13 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
32 
34 
36 
38 
40 
42 
44 
46 
48 
50 
51 
53 
61 
79 



159 



THE HORSE 

CHAPTEE I 

The Selection of a Horse 

To most people the purchase of a horse is a 
serious and important undertaking. Any man 
who is interested in horses is averse to acknowl- 
edging that he knows nothing about them, and in 
this respect more than any other he has a great 
predilection for doing his own business, however 
incompetent he may be to do it. It is extraordi- 
nary how few people are really good judges of 
this animal, and how little practical knowledge 
men may possess in spite of much experience 
among different varieties of horses. To become a 
good judge a knowledge of anatomy is essential ; 
but as a dissertation on anatomy is hardly within 
the scope of this handbook, we must confine our- 
selves to giving a brief description of the most de- 
sirable points of conformation for the various 

7 



8 THE HORSE 

classes of work, together with a few particulars of 
the commonest faults and unsoundnesses. 

A fact which is often overlooked in connection 
with the purchase of a horse is that an -animal 
may be admirably suited for one class of work 
and quite unsuitable and incapable for another. 
Thus, many horses may be "rough" and uncom- 
fortable for riding, but will be excellent in every 
way as roadsters ; and a horse which is capable of 
pulling a great weight is obviously unsuited for 
fast galloping. Therefore the intending purchaser 
must first make up his mind exactly what class of 
work he wants his horse for, and he must then 
endeavor to secure an animal with conformation 
such as will enable it to perform this work in the 
best manner and with least exertion to itself. At 
the two extremes are the thoroughbred and the 
cart horse, the former bred for speed, the latter 
for strength. Two greater differences could 
hardly be imagined in one species of animal, for 
the points necessary to the one are utterly con- 
demnatory in the other; and although perhaps 
these differences are peculiar to the shell or ex- 
ternal parts of the animal, rather than to the 
internal and vital parts, yet they are very ap- 
parent to the eye, and are the ones to which at- 



THE HORSE 9 

tention should be paid in the choice of a 
horse. 

The class of animal most likely to be required 
by the average horse-owner is the harness horse, 
so that in considering the various points we will 
keep this ideal in view. In many respects the 
harness horse requires the combined points of a 
saddle-horse and a cart horse, and, leaving out of 
the question exaggerated examples, such as that 
galloping machine the race-horse, or that equine 
giant the Percheron, we shall find that the bony 
conformation of the one differs very little, except 
in a minor degree, from that of the others. Such 
differences as exist are as a rule muscular, and as 
we go along we shall endeavor to indicate the 
various classes of work for which each variety of 
conformation is best suited. 

Head 

Although the head is very much less important 
from a working point of view than many other 
parts of the horse, yet as it is usually the first 
point to catch the eye, and as it is the one part 
from which it is possible to penetrate the secret 
of a horse's disposition and character, it is given 
priority of consideration. The chief faults of the 



10 THE HORSE 

head are that it may be too small or too large. 
The reader may perhaps be sm^prised when we 
say that the head can be too small, as popular 
opinion is generally in favor of a small size of 
this part. Too small a head may indicate weak 
masticating muscles, and hence the owner may 
suffer from a bad digestion ; and it may indicate 
small air-passages, and hence the breathing of the 
horse may be impaired. If, however, the small- 
headed horse possesses a broad, flat forehead and 
large open nostrils, he will not be likely to labor 
under either of these disadvantages, and the small 
head will be an advantage rather that the reverse. 
A large head indicates cart-horse blood, and is un- 
desirable, because a horse is apt to carry it badly, 
and consequently put an undue proportion of 
weight on the forehand. Apart from this, how- 
ever, provided the horse has plenty of bone, a big 
head is not particularly objectionable, and no horse 
need be refused because he is a little " plain." 

A fairly common peculiarity is a prominence 
between the eyes (convexity of frontals), which is 
very objectionable, and generally indicates a bad 
temper. A small or sunken " pig " eye and a wall 
eye (a ring of white round the iris) are also indi- 
cations of a wayward temper and ungenerous dis- 



THE HOESE 11 

position. A wide, flat forehead and bold eye are 
signs of intelligence and good disposition. It must 
be mentioned, however, that the eye can be too 
big, and a "scarey," nervous horse will often 
possess a large, prominent eye. In this connection 
the ears will also be some guide, and a continuous 
backward and forward movement, and an en- 
deavor to see behind, etc., may confirm suspicions 
that the animal is nervous. Apart from the 
teeth, a sunken appearance of the face, midway 
on a line drawn from the inner corner of the eye 
to the mouth, will indicate old age. The top of 
the head between the ears should be prominent, 
and the skin over the whole head in a well-bred 
horse should be fine and thin, showing through 
it the various nerves, muscles, and blood-vessels. 
There should be no swellings or thickness be- 
tween the jaw-bones, nor should the hollows above 
the eyes be deep in a young horse. 

Neck 
The neck of a saddle-horse cannot be too long 
or light, nor of a cart horse too comparatively 
thick. The harness horse should have something 
between the two. A well-shaped neck, with nicely 
set-on head, adds much to the appearance of a 



12 THE HOESE 

horse (Plate II. Fig. 13), and the animal will be 
handier and pleasanter to drive than one which is 
clumsily or awkwardly made. As one of the most 
important muscles which draws the shoulder for- 
ward runs up the neck and is attached to the top 
of the head, length of neck and good carriage of 
head mean greater power of this muscle, and hence 
better action. A big crest is simply an accumula- 
tion of fat on the upper part of the neck, and is 
chiefly an indication of fatness and not of good 
conformation. As it makes the horse heavier in 
front, i. e., puts more weight on the fore legs, it is 
an undesirable feature. The best class of neck for 
a harness horse in one of medium length, slightly 
arched (Plate II. Fig. 13), and with well-developed 
muscles. A very short thick neck, which is 
usually accompanied by straight shoulders, is a 
form of conformation which, by reason of the un- 
due amount of weight it throws forward, makes a 
horse extremely likely to overbalance and fall 
down. A horse with a " ewe " neck is often also 
a " star gazer " (Plate II. Fig. 9), and extremely 
unpleasant either to ride or drive, as not only is 
he liable to get the bit off the bars and into the 
corners of his mouth, but his carriage of head 
prevents him from seeing where he is stepping. 



THE HORSE 



13 



As this last is not of so much consequence in a 
harness horse as it is in a hunter, the fault is not 
such a grave one in the class of animal under con- 
sideration. 

Shouldees and Withees 
Whatever his work, every horse should have 

Plate I. 





Fig. 2. 

Chest too wide. 



Fig. 4. 

Hocks turned in. 



Fig. 5. 

Good Hocks. 



well-sloped shoulders. Among the advantages to 
the animal derived from this conformation are — 
greater lightness of forehand, and consequently 
greater chance of recovery after a stumble ; less 
" jar " to the fore legs, which have to support the 
whole weight of the fore part of the body ; and 



14 THE HORSE 

greater freedom of movement of the shoulders and 
fore legs. The shoulders should be thin and free 
from lumber in the saddle-horse, and exactly the 
opposite in the cart horse, which requires to throw 
a lot of weight into the collar. The two best in- 
dications of the amount of muscle carried by the 
shoulders are — the diiference in level between the 
root of the neck and the shoulder, and the width 
between the fore legs (Plate I. Figs. 2 and 3). In 
the hunter or racer the neck should run into the 
shoulder with an almost imperceptible curve ; in a 
cart horse the greater development of the muscles 
on the shoulder-blade make a very perceptible dif- 
ference in the levels of the two parts, and the 
animal has consequently a marked " collar place." 
In the harness animal is required the happy 
medium, as the absence of a depression wherein 
the collar can lie is as objectionable as is a con- 
formation too nearly approaching that of the heavy 
horse. The fore legs should be moderately wide 
apart (Plate I. Fig. 3) ; but when viewed from the 
front there should be no unnecessary muscle either 
on the outside of the shoulder or between the legs. 
The chest should be deep (Plate I. Fig. 3), not 
wide and shallow as it so often is in the front 
view (Plate I. Fig. 2). 



THE HOESE 15 

The withers should be high, but their leanness is 
not so important in the harness as in the saddle- 
horse. They should extend far back in the direc- 
tion of the tail, as this will give what riders call a 
*' long rein." It is noticeable that hackneys, which 
we may regard as an essentially exaggerated type 
of fancy harness horse, have as a rule thick necks, 
somewhat loaded, but long, well laid back shoulders, 
and not over high withers, so presmnably this con- 
formation is necessary to, or comes as a sequence 
to, exaggerated action and considerable speed at 
the trot. The objection to loaded shoulders is 
minimized if they are long and sloping, and the 
serious drawback of straight shoulders is to some 
extent compensated for if the horse has a light 
head and neck and sloping pasterns. 

Body 
Every variety of horse should be fairly short in 
back. That is to say, the distance from the 
posterior termination of the withers to the promi- 
nence at the anterior part of the croup (the inner 
angle of the pelvis) should be short if the horse is 
to have the greatest power of propelling his body 
forward, and is to be therefore speedy. The loins 
should be flat and broad, so as to give room for the 



16 THE HOESE 

attachment of muscles and to ensure plenty of 
space for the important organs which lie beneath 
them.. All classes of horses should be "well 
ribbed up," by which term length and a backward 
direction of the back ribs is understood. Short- 
ness of the back ribs is a worse fault in a saddle 
than in a harness horse, but it is very undesirable 
in any animal, as it indicates inability to '' stay." 
In horses in hard condition a badly ribbed-up con- 
formation will be evidenced by the " tucked up " 
appearance of the individual. The straighter and 
more parallel the lower line of the body is with the 
ground, the greater will be the ability of the horse 
to stand prolonged exertion, and a buyer should 
alwa3^s look for a good depth of body at a line 
dropped vertically from the- lowest part of the 
back (behind the withers) to behind the girth place. 
A good spring of ribs is essential to all horses, al- 
though flatness may be sometimes compensated for 
in a harness horse by extra depth. 

HlI^D QUAKTEES 

The most successful race-horses have usually 
been somewhat narrow behind ; but this point is 
not desirable in any other variety of horse. Ob- 
viously a horse which has to hold back a vehicle. 



THE HORSE 17 

or to jump, must have powerful muscles to enable 
him to do his work efficiently, and one should al- 
ways look for plenty of muscular development on 
the croup and down the quarters. Breadth be- 
tween the points of the hip bones is also desirable 
(Plate I. Fig. 5). It must always be remembered 
in this connection, however, that the hind cjuarters 
must be in proportion to the fore parts, and that a 
horse should not be unduly developed in one part. 
Drooping hind quarters are unobjectionable though 
unsightly, in fact, this conformation is valued in 
Irish hunters. On the score of appearance, no 
doubt, a tail set on high and carried in a graceful 
curve well away from the body is to be preferred, 
although this shape has no mechanical advantage. 

Fore and Hind Legs 
One of the most important parts of equine con- 
formation is the shape of the legs. Without 
good legs a horse will be quite unable to stand 
work, and, next to the feet, more attention should 
be paid to their shape and make than to any other 
part of thje animal. The fore legs have chiefly to 
support weight ; the hind legs to propel the body. 
E^aturally, then, one must look for powerful 
muscles and tendons and big bones to which they 



18 THE HORSE 

are attached. Successful modern thoroughbreds 
are usually leggy ; that is to say, their height at 
the withers is greater than their length from the 
point of the shoulder to the buttock, and this 
height has been proved to be usually gained by 
length of leg. The cart horse, on the contrary, 
has short legs, consequently his length is greater 
than his height. As it is not a galloping 
machine that is wanted, but merely a well- 
balanced harness horse, the full-grown animal 
should be slightly longer than he is high at the 
withers, as such conformation indicates a sufficiency 
of strength for harness work. At the same time, 
the greater length over height must be due to 
shortness of the legs, and not to either abnormally 
low withers or to a long, badly coupled body. The 
shortness of the legs should be gained by shortness 
of the bones below the knees and hocks, and not 
by shortness of the forearms and lower thighs or 
gaskins, on which the muscles which move the 
legs are to be found. The gaskins should be as 
wide and long as possible, and covered with plenty 
of muscle, and are important parts to look at in 
buying a horse. The knees should be large, flat, 
and bony; also the hocks. The latter must be 
well let down (Plate 11. Fig. 12), and when viewed 



THE HORSE 

Plate II. 



19 





Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

Calf Knee. Over at Knee. Splint. 



Fig. 9. 

Ewe Neck and Straight 
Shoulder. 





Fig. 10. 

Curb. 



Fig. 11, 

Spavin. 



Fig. 12. 

Good Hock. 



Fig. 13. 

Good Neck and Sloping 
Shoulder. 



20 THE HORSE 

from behind should be straight (Plate I. Fig. 5), 
and turn neither in nor out when the animal is 
walking. " Cow " hocks (hocks in which the 
points turn in — Plate I. Fig. 4=) are very common 
in hill ponies and horses with pony blood ; but 
beyond being unsightly they are not a serious fault, 
and are infinitely to be preferred to the opposite 
fault of hocks turned too much out. Horses which 
turn their hocks out give a peculiar " wrench " to 
the hind leg when walking. The line from the 
back of the leg from hock to pastern should be 
straight, and the front of the hock, when viewed 
from the side, should run almost imperceptibly 
down, if the hock is well let down and the bone 
below it large. 

The same may be said of the leg below the 
knee. The straight er the line of the back of the 
leg (the absence of a " tied-in " condition below 
the knee), the better the leg may be considered. 
The leg should have great width when viewed 
from the side, and the tendons should be plainly 
visible beneath the skin in a well-bred animal. 
Hurses sometimes stand over at the knees (Plate 
II. Fig. 7), and when not temporarily due to 
overwork, this formation is an indication of in- 
sufficient development of the large muscle on the 



THE HORSE 21 

upper part of the forearm. It is objectionable in 
a saddle-horse, but of less consequence in harness. 
If combined with straight shoulders and with 
heavy forehand (shoulders, chest, neck, and head) 
and a tied-in condition below the knee, it is dan- 
gerous in any class of horse, as the animal will 
always be falling down. Horses Avith straight 
shoulders and heavy fore part are '' built to fall 
down," and should be avoided for any class of 
work. Horses with "calf knees" (Plate 11. 
Fig. 6) are very liable to strain a back tendon 
when putting extra Aveight on the fore legs, as in 
jumping, cantering, etc. 

Long sloping pasterns, like long sloping shoul- 
ders, are important factors in the prevention of 
jars, and hence unsoundness. Sloping pasterns are 
usually an indication of speed. The discomfort to 
the rider of a horse with bad shoulders is mini- 
mized by long pasterns, so that it is a point which 
should never be dispensed with in a saddle-horse. 
As the harness horse has to do all his work on 
hard roads, and consequently is subjected to con- 
siderable shaking if the " springs " (shoulders and 
pasterns) are not so formed as to reduce it, long 
sloping pasterns should be looked for in this class 
also. The amount of jar caused by a horse with 



22 THE HORSE 

straight shoulders and pasterns may be verified by 
any one who cares to ride successively horses with 
both parts long and sloping, with both parts short 
and straight, with straight shoulders and long- 
sloping pasterns, and with long sloping shoulders 
and short, straight pasterns. Of the last three 
forms the verdict will be in favor of the long 
pasterns and straight shoulders as the least un- 
comfortable, and as the jar is to them so it must 
be to the horse, and it is impossible to lay too 
much stress on the importance of good pasterns 
in harness as well as saddle-horses. The hind 
pasterns are always more upright than the fore ; 
but a condition of knuckling over is due to ex- 
cessive work or to working a colt too young. In 
the former case it points to weakness of tendons. 
When viewed from the front, the pasterns should 
be straight, i. 6., the feet should turn neither in 
nor out. Cart horses very constantly turn their 
feet in, and apparently this formation, which is 
most obvious when going up-hill, has some ad- 
vantage when moving a great weight. Short, 
straight pasterns are of mechanical advantage to 
a cart horse, and as these animals have not to 
travel fast there is no objection to this formation 
if the shoulders are long and sloping. 



THE HORSE 23 

"When looking at a horse, it is advisable to note 
whether he has plenty of " bone," '2^. 6., that his 
legs are not too small for his body, or, in another 
way of putting it, that he is not heavy-topped. A 
horse can. hardly have too great a width of leg, 
provided it feels clean and firm to the touch. 
Many horses shoAvn in excessively fat condition 
may appear heavy-topped, particularly stallions ; 
but the purchaser must not allow himself to be 
deceived by fat, and must judge of the actual size 
of the body by the proportion between the size of 
the head, the shape of the chest, the width of the 
quarters, etc., and the legs. It may be added that 
it is almost mipossible to fairly judge a very fat 
horse in some points, such as back ribs, as the ac- 
cumulation of fat may completely hide the true 
shape. 

Feet 
Without good feet a horse is useless for any 
purpose. (See Chapter Y III.) Chestnut horses are 
reputed to have worse feet than horses of any other 
color ; and it is notorious that the big cart horses 
err in this respect to a terrible extent. The outer 
wall of the hoof should be hard and firm and free 
from ridges, and should not be unduly spread. 



24 THE HOKSE 

When lifted up, the buyer should note whether 
the frog of the foot is well developed and free 
from offensive odor. A deep cleft in the frog, 
and an unpleasant, characteristic smell indicate 
thrash, and although it is rare to come across a 
horse entirely free from it, yet if badly developed, 
and the frog shriveled in appearance, the horse 
should be rejected. In a perfectly healthy foot 
the cleft of the frog is only a slight depression, 
and not the deep split so constantly seen. Con- 
tracted feet are less objectionable than wide-spread 
feet, as the former _may be improved by care and 
attention, whereas nothing much can be done to 
the latter to make them permanently sound, and 
a horse with such feet, if put to fast road work, 
will be likely to develop fever in the feet, or some 
such complaint. 

Action 
Conformation makes the action. For road work, 
exaggerated knee and hock action is out of the 
question, and undesirable in every respect. At 
the same time, it is highly desirable that a horse 
should throw both fore and hind legs well forward. 
A long stride is obtained by good shoulder action, 
but it is of little advantage if the horse drags his 



THE HORSE 25 

hind legs. At the walk and trot the marks of 
the hind feet should certainly cover, and perhaps 
overreach, the marks of the fore feet, and the 
more they do so, provided the animal also throws 
out his fore legs well from the shoulder, the more 
rapidly will he cover the ground with a minimum 
of exertion. As long as the feet are lifted high 
enough to clear the ground there is no advantage 
in knee action, and the exaggerated up-and-down 
knee action of some hackneys is objectionable in 
every way. Such horses have no pace, and they 
quickly hammer their legs to pieces on the road. 
In the ideal action of the roadster the fore and 
hind legs are flung well forward, the former being 
straightened before touching the ground, and the 
whole movement suggests to the eye freedom 
without effort. 

When viewed from behind, the legs of each side 
should follow exactly the same course. This con- 
dition will not be attained if a horse " dishes," or' 
goes wide behind or in front, or crosses his legs. 
Dishing, or the flinging outward of either or both 
fore feet, is very common, and although, of course, 
a fault, 3^et it is less objectionable than some if not 
too marked. ISTo horse which goes wide in front 
is speedy, and it will generally be found that of 



26 THE HORSE 

the two conformations, going too wide, or going 
too close or brushing, the animal which does the 
latter is the fastest. Some very fast horses go 
wide behind, but the peculiarity is unsightly. 

One of the best tests of soundness, action, and 
conformation is to have the horse trotted down a 
fairly steep hill. By his manner of going a fair 
estimate of his value can at once be made. 

General Appearatstce 
A horse may have every desirable point of con- 
formation and yet be an extremely ugly animal. 
When looking at horses, the purchaser should en- 
deavor to find one which has no bad points, and if 
he can find it he may buy it knowing that it will 
be useful, and likely to last him for years, how- 
ever ugly it may be. Of course, good looks in 
addition are desirable, but they have to be paid 
for at a rate far in excess of their practical 
value. Therefore the average individual wall be 
fortunate if he is strong enough not to succumb 
to the temptation of buying an animal with some 
good or taking points in exaggerated degree, and 
also some bad ones, and confines his attention to 
searching for a horse which is absolutely free 
from any which the most critical judge could des- 



THE HORSE 27 

ignate " bad." Every bad point is a weakness, it 
must be remembered, and, as such, liable at any 
time to cause the breakdown of the entire animal. 

Age foe Work 
A horse is probably at his very best at six years 
of age. It is never wise to purchase one of less 
than four for moderate work, or under ^ve for 
hard work. Horses which are "out of mark," 
i. e., over eight years of age, if well formed and 
sound, are often likely to be more useful for hard 
work than younger ones. At this age, if they 
possess weaknesses they will, under ordinary con- 
ditions, have already broken down, so that it may 
be taken as a broad rule that a sound old horse is 
generally a good horse, and for light harness work, 
or work which is not too fast, there is no reason 
why an animal should not last until it is well into 
the twenties. 

Blemishes and Ujs'souis^di^ess 
The vendor of a broken-kneed horse always has 
a plausible tale of the exact manner in which the 
accident occurred, and it always is an accident, 
and never due to any fault on the part of the 
horse. In nine cases out of ten, however, the 



28 THE HORSE 

cause is due to faulty conformation, and, under 
such circumstances, it is a certainty that the horse 
will fall again sooner or later, however carefully 
driven. Horses which are straight shouldered 
and heavy in front, as already remarked, should 
be looked at with suspicion, and if, in addition to 
this, they already have telltale marks, they should 
be carefully avoided. When a horse is well made, 
and has a light head and neck, the cause of the 
broken knees must be looked for elsewhere, and 
one should either suspect thrush, or that the horse 
had fallen from some kind of sunstroke, in both 
of which cases the accident is unlikely to re-occur 
if reasonable care is taken to avoid the unfavor- 
able conditions. Many scars about the hocks in- 
dicate that the animal is a kicker. 

There are several conditions which, although 
they come under the technical head of unsound- 
ness, yet may not interfere with the working ca- 
pacity of the animal. In the case of splints (Plate 
II. Fig. 3), for instance, the cause and position are 
the important factors to consider before rejecting 
an animal which has one. If, as is often the case, 
they are caused by the horse having been worked 
too young, and while the bones and ligaments are 
unfit, they will be less liable to incapacitate the 



THE HORSE 29 

animal than if they were formed in adult life be- 
cause of defective conformation. When fully 
formed they do not, as a rule, in themselves cause 
lameness. But if placed in such a position that 
they are likely to be hit by the other leg, or are 
likely to interfere with the passage of the tendons 
and ligaments, they may become a serious evil. 
Therefore, if a horse has a splint high up near the 
knee where it may be struck by the other leg, or 
far back where it may interfere with tendons and 
ligaments, or on both sides of the leg, which 
v\^ould indicate great weakness of the structures, 
it should be rejected. 

The same may be said of curbs (Plate IL 
Fig. 10) and spavins (Plate II. Fig. 11). Of course, 
a horse with such is unsound ; but if it is not 
lame, and its action is in no way interfered with 
by the defects, it may be good for many years' 
work, although its value as a saleable animal is 
much reduced by their presence. 

Few horses are without a few wind-galls ; but 
they constitute unsoundness only if they cause 
lameness. 

Cutting, clicking, and overreaching do not 
come under this category, although " contraction 
of the hoof " should be considered an unsoundness 



30 THE HOESE 

as are also grease, saddle-galls, and shivering, so 
that it is within the power of the sharp buyer to 
get a considerable reduction in the price of an 
animal with one of these complaints, on the score 
that it is not wholly sound. 

It must always be remembered that curbs may 
be sprung in a moment, splints developed in a 
few hours, spavin thrown out in a day or two, 
and other defects, such as roaring, rapidly de- 
veloped, so that it is possible to buy an apparently 
sound horse one day, and find that, through no 
dishonesty on the part of the vendor, he is un- 
sound a day or two later. 



CHAPTEE II 
How to Tell a Horse's Age 

The age of a horse is to be accurately de- 
termined only by an examina'tion of the teeth, 
with a knowledge of the changes, which, from 
time to time, take place in them. The following 
directions, studied in connection with the accom- 
panying diagrams of the lower jaw, will enable any 
one of ordinary acuteness and powers of observa- 
tion to judge for himself, and thus to avoid that 
most common of all the dealer's impositions, a 
liability to be deceived in the age of horses held 
for sale. 

The incisors furnish the chief indications ; and 
to them the attention must be mostly directed ; 
but the back and hook teeth should be observed 
to some extent, as their condition may occasion- 
ally serve to correct and more frequently to cor- 
roborate the indication of the incisors. 

When first foaled, the colt has no incisors. 
31 



32 



THE HOKSE 




Fig, 14.— Lower jaw at two and a half years. 



THE HORSE 33 

Twelve back teeth have in most cases forced their 
points by this time through the gums ; but it is 
not until from two or three months afterward that 
the four nippers appear ; in six weeks the nippers 
are seen; and in about eight months the four 
corner teeth. There are now, at eight or nine 
months old, twenty-four teeth (upper and lower), 
called foal-teeth. These are all changed by the 
fifth or sixth year, and those that follow are 
called horse-teeth. 

The back teeth appear as follows : the three 
front double pair are seen at birth, and are after- 
ward changed ; the fourth double pair appear 
from the eighth to the ninth month (this fourth 
double pair are the first that remain stationary, 
and they are found in every year-old colt) ; the 
fifth double pair, or fifth four, appear in the 
second or third year; the sixth usually in the 
fourth or early in the fifth year. These three 
double pairs of back teeth (last named) remain 
unchanged, as do also the four hook teeth. 

The hook teeth are uncertain as to appearance, 
coming sometimes at the end of the third year, 
sometimes in the middle or at the end of the 
fourth, sometimes in the middle or at the end of 
the fifth, sometimes at the beginning of the sixth. 



34: 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 15. — Lower jaw at three and a half years. 



THE HOESE 35 

Observe particularly that the incisors of the 
foal differ from those of the horse (1) by their 
regular, conical formation ; (2) by a narrow con- 
traction called the neck, visible almost in the 
centre of the body of each tooth, while nothing 
of the kind is seen in horse-teeth ; (3) by their 
smaller size, even when full grown. The milk 
teeth (or those teeth which are cast or shed), 
taken from the jaws of dead foals and compared 
with horse- teeth similarly obtained, are found to 
be only about half as long as the latter. The 
breadth is not to be depended on, since the milk 
teeth of larger foals appear almost as broad as 
those of small horses. When the nippers become 
horse-teeth, they form a great contrast to the 
middle and corner teeth. The size of these last 
will at once show them to be milk teeth. (4) By 
the fact that the outer surface of the foal-teeth is 
smooth and striped with brown, w^hile on horse- 
teeth the same surface is divided by a dirty yel- 
low indentation inclining toward the centre, which 
is sometimes double upon the upper teeth. 

One should study the form of the incisors by 
carefully examining those taken from dead horses 
of different ages. Each incisor will be found to 
consist of a hard, enameled part, called the grinder, 



36 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 16.— Lower jaw at four and a half years. 



THE HORSE 37 

which has protruded above the gum ; of a bony 
substance, which has been for the most part hid- 
den in the gum ; and of a root, which has occupied 
the cavity of tlie jaw-bone. 

These teeth (of the foal as well as of the horse) 
are slowly but continually worn away by biting 
and chewing, so that the length is constantly de- 
creasing, — sometimes evenly and regularly, — so 
that in old age the tooth that was once two and a 
half inches long is found to be not exceeding half 
an inch in length. The breadth generally de- 
creases in about the same proportion ; but with 
this difference in foal and horse-teeth, that the 
thickness and breadth of the foal-teeth are con- 
stantly decreasing from the grinder or hard enam- 
eled part to the end of the root, while horse-teeth 
decrease from the root upward. The grinder, or 
hard, grating portion of the tooth, which has not 
yet been used, has somewhat the form of an egg ; 
it is three times as broad as thick, and hollowed 
out in the shape of a funnel, which hollow has two 
sharp edges inclosing it. This socket or hollow is 
called the mark. In the centre of this mark, a 
sbrt of kernel may be seen — a tube commencing at 
the end of the root — that contains the nerves of 
the tooth ; but this inner hole must always be dis- 



38 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 17=~Lower jaw at five years. 



THE HORSE 39 

tinguished from the mark, which is the outer de- 
pression, lying next to the sharp edges. The inner 
cavity is ' a funnel-shaped socket, of hard, enamel 
shell, around which, and inside the outward shell, 
is a thick fluid, which remains during the life of 
the tooth, becoming, by degrees, gray matter. 
This fluid averages about four lines in depth in the 
lower incisors and about eight in the upper ones. 

The outer edge of each incisor always rises a 
line or two above the inner edge ; therefore, when 
the upper and lower are first grated together, only 
the outer edges touch for some time ; and the in- 
ner edges do not touch until the outer ones are 
worn down to an equal height with them. Horse- 
teeth generally do this in about one year. At the 
age of two and a half, the teeth begin to change, 
and those which then appear are called horse- 
teeth. 

A full-grown stallion or gelding has forty, and 
a mare thirty-six teeth — the male having four 
hook-teeth which are lacking in the female, except 
that sometimes she has imperfect teeth in the cor- 
responding part of the mouth. Those teeth found 
in some young horses, next to the first double 
teeth, and called "wolf teeth," are not included in 
this number, as they are not real teeth, — frequently 



40 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 18.— Lower jaw at six years. 



THE HORSE 41 

not breaking through the gums at all, and usually, 
in any case, disappearing in eight or nine years. 
Twenty-four of the true teeth, in both horses and 
mares, are situated in the upper part of the mouth 
(that is, in both jaws, ahove the lips). They are 
divided into six double pairs, counting upward 
from below, so that those situated next to the in- 
cisors in all the four rows are first ; those next to 
them, second ; and so on to the last pair, which 
are called the back teeth. 

Twelve others are in the lower part of the 
mouth, surrounded by the lips, six in the upper 
and six in the lower jaw, standing, each lot, in the 
form of an arch, and occupying the entrance to 
the hollow of the mouth. These twelve are called 
incisors. The four innermost, two in each jaw — 
these forming the key of each arch — are called 
nippers ; the other two in each arch are called the 
corner teeth, and those between the nippers and 
the corner teeth are called middle teeth. Each of 
these teeth in the lower jaw rubs against the cor- 
responding one in the upper jaw. The teeth of 
the upper jaw are broader and thicker than those 
of the lower. The four hooks are seated alone, 
over each corner tooth, but nearer to the corner 
teeth of the upper than those of the lower, so that 



42 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 19. —Lower jaw at seven years. 



THE HORSE 43 

they (the hooks) never come in contact with each 
other. 

The horse has always attained the age of four 
and a half or five years before he has a full num- 
ber of perfect teeth. Before this time, the younger 
the animal the fewer the teeth, and even these are 
not all permanent. 

The more a permanent incisor loses in length, 
by friction, the more it also loses in width, so 
that the nearer the friction surface approaches to 
the root, the narrower and thicker it must appear. 

Every new hook tooth is cylindrical and some- 
what hooked, with a cone-shaped projecting 
grinder, and this is surrounded by a spoon-shaped 
edge, turned toward the hollow of the mouth, so 
that the cone cannot be seen from the outside ; 
and the whole grinder, or hard, enameled part, 
has the appearance of the back part of the bowl of 
a spoon — the edge, like a screen, surrounding the 
short cone, but so that two deep furrows remain 
between. Except this grinder, the rest of the 
body is uniformly round and the surface almost 
even. As previously said, however, these by 
themselves afford no reliable indication as to age. 

Large horses have, of course, larger teeth than 
small ones ; but taking a horse of medium size as 



u 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 20, —Lower jaw at eight years. 



THE HORSE 45 

a standard, one can make allowances for either 
larger or smaller, and easily arrive at just con- 
clusions. 

The incisors being our main reliance, our re- 
marks must be understood to refer chiefly to them. 
The length of the tooth of a horse of medium size 
is three inches, or thirty-six lines. After the 
changed tooth has arrived at its proper length, it 
shoots up a line regularly every year, and if the 
teeth stand right, the grinder is worn off a line 
every year. It is also, as has been said, worn off 
in both width and breadth, so that the grinder be- 
comes, from year to year, shorter and smaller, as 
shown by the chart. 

If, however, the teeth stand too far forward 
(irregular teeth) they do not wear down in the 
same proportion as they shoot upward, and they 
become very long. The age in this case can be 
ascertained with ease and exactness by observing 
with care the following points : At the age of A\e 
years, the corner teeth of the lower jaw have 
grown up five lines above the gum ; each middle 
tooth, seven lines ; and each upper, nine. At 
eight years, and older, each corner tooth of the 
same horse projects only four, the middle, six, and 
the nippers, eight lines above the gums. This is 



46 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 21,— Lower jaw at nine yewcB. 



THE HOESE 47 

absolutely necessary to be taken into account, be- 
cause it is the only means by which one can de- 
cide with certainty as to the age of a horse whose 
teeth have become longer than they would have 
been if set right and wearing regularly. 

The foregoing remarks and directions are based 
upon the assumption that there is no peculiarity 
about the individual animal or the breed to which 
he belongs that would materially interfere with 
the principles laid down. It remains, however^ 
to notice that to those breeds of horses which de- 
velop very slowly, of which the Spanish horse may 
be cited as an example, the rules are a little more 
difficult of application. The bones of these, and 
perhaps of some few other kinds, seem to be harder, 
and the teeth change somewhat later and appear 
to wear down more slowly ; so that it sometimes 
happens that such horses, after their fifth year 
appear a year or two younger than they really 
are ; but the same animals are apt to be more than 
ordinarily strong, hardy, and long-lived, and to be 
taken at a diminished age really detracts nothing 
from their worth. 

The age of a mule is somewhat difficult to deter- 
mine with exactness, owing to the cause just stated. 

Deceptions may be practiced with very thrifty 



48 THE HORSE 




Fig. 22.— Lower jaw at ten years. 



THE HORSE 49 

young horses, when it is desirable to make them 
appear of suitable age for work or for breeding, 
by knocking out the incisors a year sooner than 
they would naturally change themselves. If a 
purchaser suspects deception, he can determine the 
matter by closely examining the remaining teeth. 
If the nippers have changed, and the inner edges 
of the corner teeth have not yet come into con- 
tact, the foal is but one year old — and so on. 

The opposite cheat — that of trying to make a 
horse appear younger than he really is by burning 
artificial marks in upon the teeth — can be detected 
by closely examining the enamel and the effect of 
the mark upon it. When a horse has reached an 
advanced age, say twelve to twenty, the enameled 
surface has become so minute that burning in as 
large a mark as is found in horses considerably 
younger would disturb the whole enamel and so 
leave a means of detecting the fraud. 

In the case of crib-biters, that wear out their 
teeth prematurely, and so appear really older than 
they are, examinati'on must be directed to the 
corner teeth, which are seldom injured ; or, if the 
corner teeth prove to be injured, deduct from the 
apparent age as many lines as are wanting to make 
the teeth of the natural length. To feed con* 



50 



THE HORSE 




Fig. 23.— Lower jaw at twelve years. 



THE HOESE 



51 




Fig. 24.— Lower jaw at fifteen years. 



52 THE HORSE 

stantly, from weaning time, upon hard, unshelled 
corn, sometimes produces the same effect as crib- 
biting, and the same directions must be followed 
in forming an estimate. 



THE HORSE 



53 




Fig. 25.— LovYer jaw at twenty years. 



CHAPTEK III 
Sound and Unsound Horses 

So much importance is attached to what is 
technically called soundness in a horse, and the 
value of an animal is so remarkably depreciated 
if it fails to come up to the somewhat high 
standard expected by the average buyer, that a 
chapter devoted to the subject may not be out of 
place. 

First of all, unsoundness is usually defined as 
the disease or alteration of structure, which ren- 
ders, or will render, a horse less capable of per- 
forming the work required of it. This definition 
is not very satisfactory, however, because, as we 
shall show, many horses are technically unsound, 
yet are perfectly capable of doing all the work 
required of them for a great number of years. It 
is possible that too much stress is sometimes laid 
upon soundness. For instance, a case may be 
cited in which the buyers of a cob insisted upon 
absolute soundness, and rejected a number of 
useful, mature animals, each of which was tech- 

54 



THE HORSE 56 

nically unsound in some respect ; yet they 
eventually bought a pony which was passed as 
absolutely sound in wind, limb, and eye, but which 
gave them endless trouble and expense owing to 
a weak and disordered digestion. 

Owing to the iron shoes, the hard roads, the 
rapid and continuous trotting, and the heavy loads 
which have to be moved, inflammation is constantly 
set up in the bones, tendons, or ligaments of the 
legs. When one considers the unnatural con- 
ditions under which horses labor, the wonder is, 
perhaps, that any ever reach maturity without 
some abnormal condition as the result of " w^ork." 
It is those points of conformation which centuries 
of experience have proved to man to be best able 
to stand work, ^vhich are the ones sought for by 
horse-owners, and a well-shaped hock, say, is 
literally one which is put together in such a way 
as to be able to stand unaltered the malign in- 
fluences of violent concussions and sudden strains. 

A curious corroboration of the beneficial result 
of the continual selection of horses with certain 
points for work has of recent years come to light. 
In South Africa an endeavor has been made to 
utilize zebras for harness purposes, but the serious 
attempt had soon to be abandoned, as they were 



66 THE HORSE 

found to be much too '^ soft." Zebra hybrids, of 
which at one time such great things were ex- 
pected, have also proved to be unfitted for very 
hard work, and there can be no doubt that the 
wild horses, originally domesticated by our re- 
mote ancestors, were as little adapted for hard 
labor as their wild relatives are at the present 
day. A comparison of the hocks of the wild and 
tame Equidse will reveal the differences brought 
about by artificial selection. 

Yeterinary Examination^ 

If the prospective buyer has submitted a horse 
to a veterinary examination and it is passed as 
sound, he usually considers that he has done all 
that is necessary, and is bound to have a good 
animal. It must be pointed out, however, that a 
certificate of soundness is far from representing an 
animal's true worth. Presuming that the veteri- 
nary surgeon is well up in his duties, and is also a 
good judge of a horse — two qualifications not 
always obtainable in every country practitioner — 
it is yet only his duty to say whether or not a 
horse is sound at the time it comes under his 
notice. This is what he is paid to do, and a 
veterinary surgeon would be exceeding his duties, 



THE HORSE 57 

and also the professional etiquette of his attitude 
toward the seller, if he was to volunteer an 
opinion as to the quality of the horse or its suit- 
ability for any special purpose. Therefore a 
buyer can, and must, only legitimately expect to 
be informed whether a horse is technically sound, 
and herein, no doubt, lies the pitfall into which a 
great number of people, who know very little 
about horses, stumble. 

The usual form of veterinary certificate sets 
out a description of the animal,, and possibly 
mentions either that, owing to some specified 
defect, the animal is, in the opinion of the writer, 
unsound, or else that it has certain minor defects, 
such as a splint, cracked heels, etc., but is other- 
wise, in the opinion of the writer, sound. 

A horse may have minor defects such as the 
above-mentioned, yet if he is not lame, and the 
defect does not seem to detract from his natural 
movement, he is, at the moment^ sound. It is not 
the veterinary surgeon's duty, even if he could 
tell (which is unlikely, unless he has had an 
intimate previous acquaintance with the horse), 
to say whether the temporary defect is likely to 
get worse and incapacitate it from work a few 
days or weeks later. Thus the value of the 



58 THE HORSE 

examination is, comparatively speaking, nil^ un- 
less the would-be buyer is sufficiently up in 
veterinary matters to be able to put an exact 
value on the information gained, in which case 
he would probably not require the services of a 
veterinary surgeon at all. 

Then, again, a horse may be passed as absolutely 
sound, and may be so at the time, yet he may have 
hocks so badly shaped that it is obvious to the 
initiated that he will be likely to spring a curb if 
hunted, or even if put to certain sorts of carting 
work. Or he may have the combination of a 
heavy body, and hoofs which almost certainly 
suggest laminitis ; he may even have only recently 
come up from a long run at grass, necessitated by 
this or some other disease, yet the veterinary sur- 
geon can only say that the horse, as brought be- 
fore him, is sound. It is not his duty to take a 
pessimistic view, to point out weak points of con- 
formation, or to prognosticate possible disaster in 
the future. Thus we reiterate that the value of 
a veterinary certificate of soundness is small com- 
pared to the value of certain points of conforma- 
tion in the horse, and that to have the animal 
passed as sound does not exempt the buyer from 
the necessity of exercising or obtaining skilled ad^ 



THE HORSE 59 

vice on the general make and shape and suitability 
of the animal to perform a certain class of work 
without breaking down. 

Again, if the horse is passed as unsound because 
of certain specified defects, the buyer who depends 
solely upon the certificate must perforce reject it, 
and may at the same time lose tlie very animal 
which would have suited him. As stated earlier 
in this book, a horse with a technical unsoundness 
is not necessarily unfit for moderate, and even hard 
work, and it is only by a knowledge of the cause 
and character of the complaint that a fair estimate 
can be made of the animal's value. A certificate 
setting forth that the horse is unsound is, of course, 
of inestimable value to the kno^ving man who is 
not afraid, under certain conditions, to buy at a 
reduced price. His knowledge may tell him that 
the horse is equal to performing all his work quite 
as well as a more expensive and technically sound 
one. We intend to deal more explicitly with the 
various common unsoundnesses, and to show the 
values which must be placed upon them with 
reference to the different classes of work: it is 
hoped that to start with we have made clear to 
the uninitiated that a sound horse is not neces- 
sarily either a good or useful one, and have drawn 



60 THE HORSE 

attention to the fact that a certificate of soundness 
does not invariablj qualify a horse as a desirable 
acquisition for the stable. 

Sometimes a horse is too sound for its age. By 
this somewhat paradoxical statement we mean to 
imply that an animal of, say, seven or eight years 
old, which shows no work, is an object of suspicion. 
Few horses can do a fair three or four years' work 
without showing wind-galls, if nothing worse, and 
an entire absence of these concussion-indicators 
suggests that the horse has been kept in cotton- 
wool, and has for some reason or other never 
earned his keep. As people do not usually keep 
horses to look at, the inference is obvious. The 
only exception to this rule is in the case of mares 
which are known to have been kept for breeding. 
For a reason which does not affect their working 
capacity, they may have had to be drafted out of 
the stud, and they may then be as fresh on their 
legs as colts when they come into the worker's 
hands at a mature age. 

Curb 

(See Fig. 26.) Curb is a swelling at the back of, 
and a few inches below, the point of the hock. 
It can only be seen when the observer is standing 



THE HORSE 



61 



a short distance off, to one side of the horse, and 
square with the suspected leg. As the accom- 
panying diagram will show, the horse's hock is 
composed of a number of bones (usually six), and 
a broad ligament, not shown in the diagram, fills 




Fig. 26. — Diagram of the Inner Side 
of the Off Hook. 

1, astragalus; 2, os calcis; 3, large cuneiform ; 
4, median cuneiform ; 5, small cuneiform ; 6, splint 
bone ; 7, cannon bone ; 8, tibia ; 9, position of bone 
spavin ; 10, seat of bog spavin ; 11, seat of thorough- 
pin ; 12, capped hock ; 13. seat of curb ; 14, perfo- 
ratus tendon ; 15, space filled by ligament, injury 
to which causes curb. 



62 THE HORSE 

the space from the point of the hock between the 
bones and the perforatus tendon. This ligament 
is bound by Hbres to the edges of the small bones, 
and acts, in conjunction with other parts, as a 
lever to aid in propelling the horse forward. ISTow, 
in certain cases the iibrous ligament may be torn 
away from its attachments, or otherwise unduly 
strained or stretched, with the result that the 
subsequent disorganization will lead to a swelling 
which will be broadly called a curb. 

A simple sprain or twist of the ligament may 
give rise to a curb, but our best modern authori- 
ties are more of opinion that the most frequent 
accident is an actual tearing away of the fibres 
from some of their attachments. The consequent 
inflammation leads to an abnormal thickening and 
partial ossification at the seat of the injury ; hence 
at the point where the ligaments are torn away 
from their contact with the bones, a lump will 
form which will, by pushing out the adjacent 
structures, cause a curb of greater or lesser di- 
mensions, according to the extent of the injury. 
Thus a curb may be briefly defined as a thickening 
or other abnormal condition of the ligament due 
to its injury. As a rule, the tearing away is in- 
sufiicient to cause an actual displacement of the 



THE HOESE 63 

small bones themselves ; but in cases of serious 
injury, the cuboid bone may actually get out of its 
normal position, may press the ligamentous brace 
outwards, and in this way cause a bad curb. 
Again, the seat of injury may be the head of the 
splint bone, or the cannon bone, in which case en- 
largements (not technically called curbs) will ap- 
pear in corresponding positions. 

It is obvious that to cause a serious injury to 
structure such as have been described a horse 
must either have been put to an unduly severe 
strain, or, if this is out of the question, must have 
hocks of a shape and constitution which predis- 
pose him to throw out a curb with very little prov- 
ocation. 

We have already mentioned that it is necessary 
to stand square to a horse's hind leg to judge 
whether it has a curb. On no point, perhaps, in 
equine conformation does so great a diversity of 
opinion exist as to the presence or absence of this 
unsoundness. Some horses have what are called 
" cur by " hocks, that is, hocks which are not well 
let down, and which have very prominent heads 
to the splint bones. From any other point of 
view but the orthodox one, they are often mis- 
taken for curbs, owing to their " lumpy " appear- 



64 THE HORSE 

ance. The feel with the hand should decide the 
matter, because, if the apjDearance be due to 
peculiar conformation, and not to a pathological 
condition, the course of the back tendons will be 
straight. A horse does not ^^^ery often have curbs 
on both legs, so that great suspicion should be 
aroused if one hock differs in appearance from 
the other. If there are, indeed, curbs on both 
legs, the animal should be unhesitatingl}^ rejected 
as quite unfit for any but the lightest work. 

Having decided that a horse has a curb, the 
next point is to endeavor to find out its exact 
nature, and when and how it was acquired. Ob- 
viously, if the curb is of recent origin there will be 
inflammation, and the horse will be more or less 
lame from the pain, and inclined to rest the leg. 
In this state a horse should never be bought with 
the expectation that he will be shortly fit to work 
again. The active mischief will take weeks to 
repair, and the horse will afterward need at least 
a six weeks' run at grass, with blistering and per- 
haps firing. 

A moribund curb, however, is quite another 
matter, and a horse with the disfigurement may, 
under certain conditions to be named hereafter, be 
almost as good as ever he was, and quite worth 



THE HOESE 65 

buying for some classes of work. The first point 
of importance is to ascertain whether the hocks 
are naturally of good shape. If they are, it is 
fairly safe to assume that the unsoundness must 
have been caused either when the horse was very 
young, or else by some unusual and extraordinary 
strain. 

Curbs are sprung in a moment, just as the ankle 
in the human being may be sprained during a 
game, or even when walking. Hunters constantly 
injure themselves suddenly when jumping ; but if 
their hocks are well shaped, and they are over the 
period of active trouble, there is no reason why 
they should not perform harness work soundly for 
the rest of their natural lives, although it might 
be wise not to hunt them again. For example a 
cob, as a three-year-old, threw out a curb on the 
near hind leg, owing to being ridden by a man too 
heavy for it at that early age. Once the active 
mischief ceased, the working ability of that pony 
was in no way impaired, and it was still going 
soundly and well in its daily work many years 
later. If the history of a curb can be ascertained, 
and its origin can be proved to date back to a time 
when the horse was either immature or was being 
hunted, then it would be fairly safe to buy the 



ee THE HOKSE 

animal for harness work. A horse bought cheaply 
because of some defect must, of course, always be 
somethmg in the nature of a gamble, but in the 
case of the particular unsoundness in question, it 
is safe to assert that once the inflammatory condi- 
tion is dead, and the injured ligaments have as- 
sumed their abnormal shape or position, the matter 
is at an end, and the horse capable of ordinary 
work. The worst to be feared is that the horse 
may periodically go lame in the leg owing to 
rheumatism in the altered structure ; but this is not 
of common occurrence, although lameness in a leg 
with a long-standing curb, unaccompanied by heat, 
may perhaps be traced to something of a rheumatic 
nature. 

Apparently sound horses which rest a hind leg 
(or indeed any leg) at every opportunity should 
not be purchased. If a horse is very tired after a 
day's hunting or a long journey he often rests his 
leg, but it will then be seen that he changes fre- 
quently from one to the other, and favors neither. 
He may also legitimately, when in his stable and 
tired, point one fore and the opposite hind foot, 
resting his nose meanwhile in the manger, in 
Avhich attitude he apparently goes to sleep. He 
should not, however, habitually rest a certain leg 



THE HOESE 67 

whenever opportunity occurs, in harness or other- 
wise, and if he does so it is a sure indication that 
there is a sense of discomfort, which will probably 
ultimately manifest itself. 

The older the damage the less knob-like and the 
more diffuse and spread-out is a curb, so that from 
its shape alone it is possible for the expert to esti- 
mate whether it is of long standing. 

It is possible, of course, for a horse to get a 
swelling in the position of a curb from kicking in 
harness, or from a blow. When a buyer is assured 
that the defect is due to some such cause, it is 
extremely difficult for him to prove to his own 
satisfaction that the injury is in reality incipient 
curb ; at the same time, the latter is deep-seated, 
and feels quite different to the superficial swelling 
of a bruise. 

Curb is an unsoundness which is as difficult to 
hide from the initiated as broken knees, hence it 
is waste of time to try and make a cure which 
leaves no telltale scar. In very bad cases the 
primitive method of firing proves efficacious, be- 
cause the burning of the skin causes it to contract 
and hence act as a more or less efficient brace to 
the weakened part. In slight cases, when heat 
and lameness are the only indications that some- 



68 THE HORSE 

thing is wrong, a blister composed of biniodide of 
mercury, one part ; lard, four parts, should be im- 
mediately well rubbed in. The horse must have 
absolute rest and a light diet, and should be fit 
for work again when the eifects of the blister 
have worn off. 

Spavin 

(See Fig. 26.) This complaint must not be con- 
fused with bog spavin, to which it is not even re- 
motely allied. Bone spavin, as we Avill call it to 
avoid confusion, is extremely common in some 
districts, and is much more prevalent in some 
breeds of horses than others. Actually it may be 
defined as a bony enlargement found on the inside 
and lower part of the hock, due to disease. 

To understand the exact nature of bone spavin, 
we must return to a study of the horse's hock. 
As already mentioned, it is usually composed of six 
bones, sometimes of seven, according to whether 
certain of the bones are naturally fused together, 
or separate, or altogether absent. As evolution- 
ists are well aware, the horse is descended from a 
five-toed ancestor, and the two splint bones are 
rudiments of two additional toes. As evolution- 
ary changes are always much retarded, if not en- 



THE HORSE 69 

tirely suppressed, under domestication, we find 
that horses are subject to a certain amount of 
variation in the number of bones which go to 
make the hock joint, and these differences no 
doubt have a certain effect on the capabilities of 
the individual. The tendency is, of course, for 
the number of bones to diminish in correspondence 
with the loss of the toes with which they were 
once articulated, but owing to reversion some 
horses possess additional rudimentary bones in. the 
hock which are of no use, and should not actually 
be there. It is probably this variation, and the 
consequent instability of the joint, which indi- 
rectly causes horses to be so predisposed to spavin 
and other bone diseases in this region. It will be 
seen, on reference to the diagram of the hock, that 
there is normally on its inner side a column of 
bones composed of the astragalus, large cuneiform, 
and median cuneiform, which rest on the meta- 
carpal or cannon bone. Owing to jar, strain, or 
work, the bones become inflamed, usually between 
the metatarsal and median cuneiform, or between 
this and the large cuneiform. Inflammation of 
bone, its covering membrane, and its articular 
cartilages, always leads to abnormal limey depos- 
its at the seat of inflammation, hence the result 



70 THE HORSE 

of disorganization of this region is a bony enlarge- 
ment, wMch is called by horse-owners spavin. 

In the case in question the inflamed bones are 
ultimately fused together by the deposit which 
results from the inflammation, so that instead of 
the front of the hock being composed of a column 
of separate bones, each of which plays compara- 
tively freely over the others and feels smooth to 
the touch, it becomes fused into a rough, unsightly 
mass. The seriousness of spavin depends largely 
upon the extent and position of this fusion. If 
only the cannon bone and median cuneiform are 
involved, or even if fusion extends to the large 
cuneiform also, the horse will be unsound, of 
course, but not necessarily much the worse. But 
if fusion extends higher up, between the' large 
cuneiform and astragalus, the horse will be unable 
to bend his hocks properly, and his capacity for 
work will be very materially depreciated thereby. 
Also the more to the front the fusion is, the 
more serious it is. Therefore the seriousness or 
otherwise of spavin depends mainly upon its ex- 
tent and position, which are easily ascertained by 
feeling for the rough bony deposit with the 
fingers, and by noting the manner in which the 
horse bends his hocks. A horse which cannot 



THE HORSE 71 

back freely, in conjunction with other suspicious 
indications, is probably suffering from hock 
trouble. 

As in the case of curb, a horse is usually only 
lame from spavin when the inflammation is active, 
and the bony enlargement actually in process of 
formation. Unlike curb, however, the hind action 
can never be quite the same again, however slight 
the disease, because of the hindrance to the per- 
fect freedom of movement which inevitably takes 
place. As already stated, the lower down the 
disease, the less is the horse's action affected ; thus 
a lot of work mio^ht be o'ot out of a horse with 
slight spavin if the inflammation is no longer act- 
ive. It must always be remembered that spavin 
is perhaps a natural evolutionary tendency toward 
a union of the bones of the hock, and that a hock 
which is weakly formed will almost inevitably be- 
come more badly diseased if the animal has to 
carry heavy weights, pull heavy loads up hills, or 
perform work which will create compression or 
severe strain on this part. Therefore only a horse 
which moves well and soundly, and has well- 
shaped hocks, should be considered — at a price— if 
it has a moribund spavin low down and to one 
side of the leg. An animal in which the action is 



72 THE HORSE 

affected, which has a considerable development of 
the disease, and the shape of the hocks of which 
are not quite satisfactory, should be avoided by 
any one who hopes to have a horse capable of 
doing regular work of an exacting nature. 

The treatment of spavin, when a horse shows 
by lameness and heat that he is developing the 
disease, consists in endeavoring to hasten the union 
of the bony surfaces. Unlike curb, the disease 
comes on slowly and insidiously, and may be 
checked by blistering and firing, if taken in time. 
It must not be expected, however, that a perfect 
cure, leaving no trace, can ever be effected. In 
young horses complete rest — which, indeed, is es- 
sential at all ages — and a blister, may check the 
evil before serious mischief is done, so that noth- 
ing but a poor hind action and some ridge-like 
marks across the front of the joint, which may 
escape the notice of an unobservant person, will 
be left to tell the tale of past trouble. 

Hock Lameis^ess 

A horse may sometimes be suspiciously stiff in 

his hind action, may even be lame in the hock, 

and yet have neither heat nor exostosis. Many 

people have been puzzled by cases of this nature. 



THE HOESE 73 

and have at length been obliged to discard the 
horse for a lameness which, as there is no outward 
indication of trouble, it was impossible to cm'e. 
As a horse should not be bought if it is actually 
lame, it is unnecessary to enter into the details of 
this stage of the complaint, but the probable cause 
of an unnaturally stiff movement when no spavin 
is visible will be of value to the reader. As al- 
ready shown, the hock is normally composed of 
a number of small bones, which are naturally 
lubricated by a secretion called synovia, which 
enables them to play freely over one another. It 
is possible for a jar or severe strain to set up in- 
flammation and ultimate bony union between the 
inner edges of the adjacent bones, or actually be- 
tween the upper and lower surfaces of any of the 
superimposed bones. Disease which is deep-seated 
like this will obviously be undiscoverable to eye 
or hand, and, once the active stage is past, nothing 
will be left but a stiffness of gait, which will be 
apparent to any one acquainted with the correct 
way in which a horse should move. It is not safe 
to trust to the actual footmarks made by a horse 
to decide whether he is bending his hocks in the 
way he should, because some horses learn to 
counteract the disability left by hock disease by 



74 THE HOESE 

moving their legs forward from the hip in a rather 
peculiar way, and thus more than cover with their 
hind foot the print left by the front one. It can 
only be repeated that hocks which are not bent 
are often diseased, a.nd that it is possible for the 
unsoundness to be in such a position that it is 
absolutely undiscoverable. In these cases, a 
veterinary surgeon of course passes the horse as 
sound, provided it is not actually lame at the time 
he sees it. 

It is impossible to say whether horses with 
occult spavin, as it has been called, should be 
purchased or refused. Much depends upon the 
actual case ; but it is strongly recommended that 
where this disease is suspected, a few days' trial 
prior to purchase should be absolutely insisted 
upon as a preliminary condition. If this is not 
allowed, refuse the horse at any price. In an ob- 
scure complaint of this nature, with no surface 
indication, it is, of course, impossible to tell 
whether the disease is active or is of long stand- 
ing, and it is upon the elucidation of this point 
that the advisability of purchase depends. If the 
hock is slightly inflamed, a hard day's work will 
result in lameness next day ; if the inflammatory 
stage is long since past, the horse will be but little 



THE HORSE Y5 

stiff er in his gait after work than he was before. 
Therefore it is essential that he be under the en- 
tire control, and in the stable, of the would-be 
purchaser for at least a couple of days, so that he 
can be submitted to a thorough test, and so that 
his habits, i. e.^ predisposition to rest the leg at or 
after work, etc., can be observed. If he comes 
out of the ordeal none the worse, then he is prob- 
ably worth buying at a price commensurate with 
his poor hind action. It should be added that a 
thirty-mile drive will fairly test a horse for most 
of the common unsoundnesses of the legs. 

Another Mysterious Complaint 
When a very taking horse is offered to one at a 
very reasonable price, the natural conclusion to 
come to is that something is wrong with it. If, 
on examination, it proves to be free from splints, 
spavins, curbs, wind-trouble, and all the cojnmon 
and obvious unsoundnesses, one is rather at a loss 
to discover what is the matter. A case of this 
sort came to notice not long ago. The pony was 
a model. It was apparently sound, quiet, and 
desirable in every respect, and yet the prospective 
purchaser was convinced that all was not right 
with it. The owner was persuaded to leave it on 



76 THE HOESE 

trial, payment of a definite sum for hire to be 
made if it was not ultimately purchased. Driving 
revealed the fact that the pony had a tendency to 
" drop " one hind leg occasionally in the course of 
a drive. Not only this, but it rested the leg much 
in the stable, and, furthermore, evinced a tendency 
to shivering in that thigh. Eventually it was 
found possible to cause slight pain by pressure on 
a certain part of the thigh, and the ultimate con- 
clusion come to was that the pony was suffering 
from some disorder which affected the sciatic 
nerve. A sudden twinge of pain, which it ap- 
parently felt occasionally, no doubt caused the 
sudden drop of the leg, which was dangerous, as 
it always occurred going do^vn-hill. 

The above incident is submitted, partly to show 
how difficult it may be to detect certain classes of 
disease, and also to emphasize the great benefit 
of always having a horse in one's own stable for 
at least a day or two before bu^dug it. If a seller 
strongly objects to allow a trial to a responsible 
person, his prejudices may be overcome by the 
offer of the payment of a reasonable sum, per 
week, if no sale takes place. If he refuses any 
such arrangement, the buyer has probably not lost 
an animal Avhich it was worth his while to buy. 



THE HOESE 77 

Synovial Enlargements 

(See Fig. 26.) Horses may have a variety of 
more or less soft enlargements in the region of 
the hock or hoof, clue to an effusion of the joint 
oil or synovia. JSTormally the fluid is kept in its 
place by taut membranes ; but sometimes owing 
to overwork when young, however, or to actual 
weakness of the binding tissue, the synovial sacs 
may bulge out in certain places where they are 
unsupported by ligaments, and cause wind-galls 
(these more commonly on the fetlocks than on the 
hocks), bog spavin, or thoroughpin. This class of 
derangement does not usually cause lameness or 
incapacitate a horse from work ; it is merely un- 
sightly. Therefore a mature horse, with a soft, 
cool swelling which is situated on the inner front 
of the hock, need not be refused on this score. 
Bad bog spavin is often accompanied by thorough- 
pin, which is a similar distention situated just 
above the point of the hock and in front of the 
tendon. 

Capped Hocks 

(See Fig. 26.) Capped hocks are common and 
unsightly, and lower the value of a horse ; but 
they are of no disadvantage from a practical point 



Y8 THE HORSE 

of view. Actually they are caused by an abnor- 
mal accumulation of watery matter, accumulated 
in a sac formed between the tendon attached to 
the point of the hock and the skin. They are 
usually due to blows either accidentally inflicted 
or caused by the kicking of the horse, and it is al- 
ways advisable to take special trouble to ascertain 
whether an animal with this disfigurement is an 
habitual kicker in harness. Badly bred horses 
sometimes become the victims of a mange insect 
which particularly favors the hind legs, and causes 
the horse to stamp and fret ceaselessly in his 
stable, especially during the night, and during the 
autumn and winter. In his distress, he is ex- 
tremely likely to damage the point of his hock 
against the stall division or wall. The obvious 
remedy lies in exterminating the parasites, which 
is easily done by washing the legs with soft soap 
and water, and applying a few dressings of equal 
parts of paraflin oil and sweet oil. When a horse 
rubs one hind leg against the other, stamps and 
kicks out, and shows every indication of extreme 
irritation at the back of the legs between heel and 
hock, as well as a scaly dry eruption, this para- 
site should be suspected, as it is much commoner 
than many people might suppose. 



THE HOKSE 



TO 



It is possible that an insufficient supply of bed- 
ding may sometimes lead indirectly to capped 
hocks, especially if an ani- 
mal is startled into rising 
hurriedly when lying down. 



Split^ts 

(See Fig. 27.) To turn to 
the fore legs, we will deal 
first with the nature and 
cause of splint, which is 
possibly the commonest ab- 
normal structure to be found 
on a horse's legs, but which 
only under certain circum- 
stances, to be exactly deter- 
mined hereafter, constitutes 
an unsoundness. 

The splint bones are two 
rudimentary, or rather ves- 
tigiary, cannon bones situ- 
ated on either side of the 




Fig. 27. — Diagram of the 
Outer Side of Off Fore 
Leg. 



cannon bone proper, on both l, cannon bone; 2, spllntbone; 
„ 1 1 • 1 1 rm 3, its button-like termination ; 

tore and hmd lee's, ihey 4, position of splints; 5, sus- 

^ -^ pensory ligament; 6, seat of 

are of interest, as already side-bones. 

hinted, as affording evidence that the horse is de- 



80 THE HORSE 

scendecl from a live-toed ancestor. • They represent 
the second and fourth digits, tlie horse wallving 
upon the third. Tiie first and fifth digits, corre- 
sponding to our thumb and little finger, have long 
ago disappeared. The heads of the splint bones 
articulate with some of the bones in the lower 
roAV of the knee and hock, hence a total loss of 
the former would involve considerable alteration 
in both knee and hock, which state of evolution 
has not yet been l^eached. Therefore our horses 
still continue to possess the useless and even det- 
rimental rudimentary splint bones, as they are 
called, which sometimes cause him considerable 
pain, and may in certain circumstances depreciate 
his value. 

ISTormal splint bones usually have small button- 
like terminations which are the only vestige left of 
the moribund digits, and may be felt through the 
skin. These little bulbs are likely to be mistaken by 
the uninitiated for splints, especially in breeds such 
as Iceland ponies, in which they are unusually well 
developed. 

The rudimentar}^ metacarpals and metatarsals 
are attached to the cannon bone by strong inter- 
osseous ligaments, which have a tendency to be 
naturally converted into bone with advancing 



THE HORSE 81 

years. The disease called splint is an abnormal 
deposit of bone between the splint bone and the 
cannon bone, caused probably most frequently by 
sprain of the interosseous ligament and subsequent 
inflammation. The inflammation may, however, 
be set up in other ways. The jar of trotting 
along a hard road, a blow, or indeed any violent 
shock to the leg of a young horse may be suffi- 
cient to cause it, and the fact that it is so much 
commoner to find a splint on the fore than on 
the hind legs is due to the fact that the latter are 
far less subject to concussion than the former. 

Splints seem to occur more frequently on the 
inside rather than the outside of the leg, and are 
always higher up than the bulbous termination, 
with which, therefore, they need never be con- 
founded. Presumably, during the natural course 
of evolution, the tendency is for the splint bones 
to become shorter and permanently welded to the 
cannon bones at an early age. Until this desirable 
result is consummated in all horses, however, 
splints will continue to be a prevalent source of 
trouble. 

Splints are serious or not, as mentioned in the 
first chapter, according to their position, their 
number, size, and activity, and the class of work 



82 THE HORSE 

expected of a horse. They are easily felt as bony 
exostoses at some position along the course of the 
splint bones. If a horse has them on both sides 
of each fore leg, it should be at once rejected as 
too weak to be of use for hard work. More com- 
monly only one splint on the inner side of one 
fore leg will be felt, and in such a case the impor- 
tant point to consider is its position in relation to 
the passage of the adjacent tendon. 

]N"ormally, the back of the cannon bone and the 
two splint bones form a groove for the suspensory 
ligament. If a splint forms on the inner side of 
the splint bone, the exostosis may press on the 
ligament, and the consequent pain will cause a 
chronic lameness. Again, a splint well forward 
and high up on the outside of the fore leg is apt to 
interfere with the extensor tendon. Some old 
carriage horses become chronically lame owing to 
the " growth " of a splint which eventually be- 
comes so large as to press on the suspensory liga- 
ment, although for the greater part of life it had 
given them no trouble. Therefore the position is 
the chief factor to take into consideration when 
estimating the gravity of this disease. 

Owing to the fragile connection in youth be- 
tween the metacarpal and splint bones, young 



THE HOESE 83 

horses, under Q.Ye years of age, are most liable to 
this complaint — indeed, comparatively few three- 
year-olds escape a slight inflammation during their 
period of training. The lameness soon passes off, 
however, and rest and a mild blister will com- 
plete the cure by hastening a bony union at the 
injured spot. On the other hand, splints often 
become absorbed in old animals which are enjoy- 
ing a period of rest, and it is by no means uncom- 
mon to find that they have diminished or even dis- 
appeared with the increasing years of their owner. 
As splints do not constitute unsoundness unless 
they are actually causing lameness, and as lame- 
ness is (except in those instances in which the 
splint, owing to its position, causes the horse to be 
chronically lame) only evidenced when the splint 
is forming, it is safe to buy a horse with even a 
rather large splint on one fore leg if the growth is 
moribund and not unfavorably situated. In the 
majority of cases, as already mentioned, the growth 
will diminish with age, and it is in no way likely 
to interfere with the w^orking capabilities of a horse. 

Side-bones 
(See Fig. 27.) Cartilage is extremely liable to 
ossify if injured. The disease called side-bones is 



84 THE HORSE 

the ossification of the naturally elastic lateral 
cartilages attached to the pedal bone, and is easily 
felt as a hard, rough lump, which may vary from 
the size of a pea upward. Usually only the fore 
feet are affected, and cart horses rather than light 
horses are liable to the complaint. This is prob- 
ably due to the fact that the disease is almost al- 
ways brought on by external injury, and that farm 
horses harnessed abreast are extremely liable to 
tread on one another's feet when turning in 
ploughing, etc. That the disease is usually con- 
tracted in this way is proved by the fact that it is 
almost always an outside cartilage which is af- 
fected. In cart horses, not much is thought of the 
disease, as animals with it can perform a great 
amount of work on soft ground at a walking pace. 
It is a grave unsoundness, however, in light horses, 
one, moreover, which may increase as time goes 
on, and no horse should be purchased for trotting 
road work which has a suspicion of the disease. 
The pain of side-bone is caused by the nipping or 
pressure, as it were, of soft tissues between the ab- 
normal deposit of bone and the hoof, and this is 
obviously likely to increase as the disease extends, 
and to be worse after severe work on hard roads. 
Cart horses with side-bones will often be lame for 



THE HORSE 85 

a day or two after one twenty-mile journey on the 
road, although they will be able to work regularly 
on the land day after day without discomfort. 

It is sometimes difficult to detect side-bone in 
its very early stages, as the horse may not be per- 
manently lame, but may only '' drop " a little once 
or twice when first moved after a rest. As al- 
ready stated, the place to search for incipient dis- 
ease is on the outsides of the fore feet, and if the 
cartilages seem to have in the slightest degree lost 
their natural elasticity and smoothness, the horse 
should be refused. The ossification usually begins 
as a small spot on some part of the cartilage, and 
from thence spreads in every direction until the 
entire cartilage is changed into a rough, bony 
mass, lacking the smoothness and sharp definition 
of true bone. 

In bringing these remarks on a fe^v of the com- 
mon diseases of the legs to a close, it must be 
added that they are intended rather as a guide to 
the buyer than as a treatise from the veterinary 
point of vie^v. 

Almost every horse which is offered at an ap- 
parently fair, as opposed to a fancy price, "has 
something." The question usually is. Will that 
" something " invalid him if he is put to certain 



86 THE HORSE 

regular work, or is he likely to turn out " practi- 
cally sound " ? This question we have endeavored 
to answer in detail under the various headings : 
broadly it may be stated, however, that hock 
troubles are likely to be increased by hunting or 
heavy draught work, although there are no doubt 
men-Avho get all the sport they require out of a 
horse fired in both hocks; and that side-bones, 
splints in certain positions, and any feet troubles 
must be viewed with the greatest suspicion in 
horses which have to work at a fast pace upon the 
roads. 



CHAPTER TV 

Stables and Appliances 

The average individual has, as a rule, to make 
use of such stabling as he finds himself possessed 
of, and it must be confessed that very often the 
accommodation at his command falls very far 
short of the ideal. A number of inexpensive 
modifications can, however, generally be made, 
which will add not only to the comfort, but to the 
general welfare of the inhabitants. It must be re- 
membered that a horse spends the greater part of 
his working life in the stable, and that, under these 
circumstances, his health can only be secured by 
due attention to the sanitary conditions under 
which he lives. 

Cubical Space 

It is usually said that 1,200 cubic feet is the 

minimum space required by each horse in a stable 

for the maintenance of health. As, however, the 

average London cab and carriage horse stables 

87 



88 THE HORSE 

generally allow only about half, or less than half.; 
this number, it is apparently possible for horses to 
live and be capable of work in a very much more 
restricted area. It must be added that horses 
whose work takes them for long hours out-of- 
doors will be healthier, and will be able to live 
under less favorable conditions when under cover, 
than those who only escape from the vicinity 
of four walls for one or two hours out of the 
twenty-four. Farm horses who do their regular 
eight to ten hours' work daily can live healthily 
in stables which would be utterly condemned for 
the housing of light horses ; but the factor which 
makes it possible is not any inherent hardiness 
of the heavier breeds, but merely their mode of 
life. 

It is presumed that the horse-owner is giving 
his animals the greatest amount of cubic space 
that his building permits of. To aid in this de- 
sirable end, the empty stall or stalls should not be 
littered up with odds and ends, and allowed to 
become untidy, dirty receptacles for the deposit 
of rubbish. Every empty stall in a small stable 
means more air for the occupants of other stalls, 
and no detail of this kind is too insignificant to be 
overlooked. 



THE HORSE 89 

Yet^tilation 

The next point to which attention must be paid 
is to the very important one of ventilation. The 
correct method of securing the ingress of outside 
air without causing inconvenient draught is by a 
series of windows placed on both sides along the 
length of the stable above the head of each horse. 

o 

If there is a double row of stalls with passage 
down the centre and a door at each end of the 
building, fresh air will gain entrance at right 
angles to that admitted by the windows, so that 
no part of the stall is unduly favored, and none 
of the horses are placed in a position of advantage. 
Below the manger, and about a foot from the 
floor, a row of air-bricks ensures that the air near 
the floor does not become stagnant. 

The commonest form of stable usually found is 
that in which the door and window are in the 
centre of the front wall, the row of stalls being 
placed immediately opposite. The great disad- 
vantage of this plan is that there is no through 
draught or free circulation of air, and such air as 
is admitted is on the side farthest from the horses' 
nostrils. It may be possible, if the building 
stands alone, to have a ventilator placed in the 
wall at each end of the stable high up, at small 



90 THE HORSE 

expense compared to the advantage gained. 
Some old-fashioned stables are provided with hay- 
racks communicating with the loft above, and 
open to objections as these racks are, they may 
yet be desirable in an otherwise ill-ventilated 
stable, as they allow a current of comparatively 
fresh air to reach each horse. 

Another plan of stabling, which perhaps is the 
worst of all, is that in which the door and window 
are at one end of the building and the stalls stretch 
away from them. The horse nearest the window 
may get some fresh air and light ; but those at 
the farthest end of the building have to breathe 
the atmosphere tainted by the breath of the horses 
nearer the window, the mischief increasing with 
each succeeding horse. 

Possibly one of the healthiest forms of stabling 
for not too artificially kept horses is a shed en- 
tirely open at one side. The roof should, of 
course, jut out to cover a six feet passage behind 
the horses' heels, both for convenience of the men 
in attendance and to prevent driving rain from 
reaching the horses. Horses kept in shedding 
on these lines have done remarkably well, and 
have been wonderfully free from the minor ail- 
ments Avhich so constantly incapacitate those in 



THE HORSE 91 

the ordinary stable. It must always be remem- 
bered that horses are constituted to live an outdoor 
life, and that they can, as a rule, stand any amount 
of dry cold. By reason of their great lung capac- 
ity they must have plenty of fresh air, and con- 
sequently they will thrive better under a rough 
shedding Tvhich is exposed to the air, than in the 
average small, dark, warm, ill-ventilated stable. 
There is only one drawback (if such it can be 
called) to a shed-stable, and that is that the horses 
kept therein must not be clipped. As the trades- 
man and small owner, whose horses have to stand 
about in all weathers, would probably in any case 
dispense with clipping, the drawback is not a very 
serious one. However, as we before remarked, 
every owner will usually have to make the best 
of what he has got, and we would only impress 
on him the great importance, to the welfare of his 
animals, of a free circulation of fresh air, which 
must be secured in the manner best suited to his 
circumstances and situation. 

Stall Diylsions 
The usual stall division is a partition perhaps 
seven feet higli at the point of attachment to the 
wall and sloping to about five feet high. Since 



92 THE HORSE 

the importance of ventilation has been more fully 
realized, the wooden partition has been modihed 
to a height not exceeding four feet, and the two 
feet above are composed of iron bars, which allow 
of a free circulation of air passing right through- 
the stable on a level with the horses' heads. This 
arraiigement is excellent in theory, and no doubt 
practically satisfactory in stalls ; but we have 
known a spirited horse in a loose box, divided from 
the next by partition and bars, to get its fore legs 
above the bars in its endeavors to rea<5h the next 
horse, and to prevent a repetition of this dangerous 
proceeding the bars had to be covered over with 
w^ood to obstruct the view. "We should certainly rec- 
ommend the barred tops for stalls, but not for the 
divisions between loose boxes, and it is unnecessary 
in the latter, where the horse can turn round in 
any direction it pleases. Even in stalls the bars 
immediately over the mangers are better covered 
with wood, as a bad-tempered, jealous horse will 
often cause terror to his neighbors at feeding 
time, and will frighten them into leaving or 
" gobbling " their food if within view. 

The usual width recommended for stalls for full- 
sized horses is six feet and the length ten feet^ 
but in most stables they fall far short of this ; 



THE HORSE 93 

curiously enough, too, most commonly iu cart-horse 
stables. An excellent plan, much in vogue in 
France, and certainly to be recommended for hard- 
working horses where room is limited, is to have 
partitions made of wide bales, hung by two chains 
from a small manger-partition to a heel post, the 
top being about three feet above the stable floor. 
Besides economizing floor space, these swinging 
bales give the horse much more room, and allow 
of a free circulation of air and a thorough cleaning 
of the floor. Of course the objection to them lies 
in the danger of a restive animal getting a leg 
over the bale. This danger is not a very real one 
in the case of regularly worked animals, however, 
and the plan seems to have answered very well in 
the cases in which it has been adopted. A width 
of five feet will be sufficient for stalls divided by 
bales, although another foot is of course preferable 
if it can be afforded ; and each bale should be so 
fixed as to be easily unhooked if necessary. 

Deainage 
Surface drains are al^j^ays the best for stables, 
as underground drains are liable to get choked 
with straw and refuse matter. The most objection- 
able class of drain is the trap gutter in the centre 



94: THE HORSE 

of the floor of each stall, as, unless constantly 
flushed with clean water, ^vhich it seldom is, it is 
little better than a small cesspool, almost under 
the nose of the horse. An open gutter running 
the length of the stable, at the back of the stalls, 
with a good outfall, is sanitary if unsightly. The 
slope of the back part of the stalls to this gutter 
will require to be about one in eighty ; no" greater 
slope than is absolutely necessary for drainage 
purposes should be allowed, as it is not only un- 
comfortable, but absolutely injurious to a horse to 
stand for a prolonged period with his legs at 
different levels. 

Flooes 
The material for the floor of a stable must be 
sanitary, durable, easily cleaned, and not slippery. 
A variety of grooved, so-called sanitary bricks are 
made in these days, and no doubt some of them 
answer very well. A concrete floor also answers 
the requirements, and has the extra advantage of 
being one of the cheapest adequate floors that can 
be laid. A very rough estimate of the cost of 
laying concrete twelve implies deep would be about 
one dollar per square yard, including ramming, 
and to this must be added a small sum for render- 
ing the surface with cement. 



THE HORSE 95 

Light 
There still lingers an old-fashioned prejudice 
against admitting light into a stable. It is said 
that light attracts flies which worry the horses. 
As a nation we are only just beginning to 
realize the importance of air and light to our 
own healths, so perhaps it is hardly surprising that 
these old prejudices should linger in connection 
with the management of our horses. As a matter 
of fact, flies are attracted by the manure rather 
than by the horses, and they will not swarm in a 
stable which is light, and consequently clean. 
Light, particularly sunlight, is essential to the 
maintenance of health as being the only natural 
germicide we know of, and as disease is usually 
the result of bacteriological action, the importance 
of allowing sunlight to penetrate the dwellings of 
man and beast can be fully realized. Also light 
is essential to the health of the eyes. For these 
reasons, and for the additional one that dark 
stables are usually dirty stables, as much light 
should be admitted as possible. However ill- 
constracted a stable may be, much may be done 
toward keeping the inmates in good health by 
keeping the doors and windows open as much as 
possible to admit both light and air. Only too 



96 THE HORSE 

often everything is shut up at night, and the heat 
and foul air which meet one when the door is 
opened in the morning is eloquent testimony to 
the need for more thorough ventilation. The 
windows can at least be left open all night, and 
bars or stout wire netting can be fixed across the 
opening to prevent the entrance of undesirable in- 
truders. 

Mat^gers 

The modern manger is usually made of iron, 
and although preferable, from the point of view 
of cleanliness, to the old wooden manger, it is very 
often made much too small and shallow. A pro- 
jecting lip on the inside certainly, to some extent, 
prevents the food from spilling ; but, as a rule, the 
manger is much too small to hold a big feed of 
cut hay and oats without waste. Almost every 
horse noses a mixed feed about, and unless he has 
plenty of room a certain amount is bound to get 
spilt. A most satisfactory manger is in reality 
intended to hold the hay, and is deep and low, 
and the horse can root about in it to his heart's 
content without losing a morsel of his food. 

The usual method of attachment of a horse to 
the stall is by a rope fastened to the head-stall, 



THE HORSE 97 

which runs through a ring in the centre of the 
edge of the manger, and is weighted by a block 
of ^7ood on the end of the rope. The latter should 
fasten to the head-stall with a spring hook. 

Hay-Racks 

Many people object to the overhead hay-rack, 
because they consider this position for the fpod 
unnatural, and also because it allows of the possi- 
bility of seeds, dust, etc., getting into the horse's 
eyes. Against a low rack is urged the danger that 
the horse may injure himself by getting his foot 
into it. There is certainly much to be said in 
favor of the overhead rack on the score of waste, 
as it is undoubtedly an advantage to have the 
manger beneath to catch bits pulled out by the 
horse. The waste with an open-barred low rack 
is very considerable, and if racks in this position 
are used, it is much better to have them boarded 
up. 

Geneeal Remaeks 

From the few remarks made on the most im- 
portant points in connection with stable construc- 
tion, it will be seen that every owner can, as a 
rule, do something to remedy defects in the build- 
ing at his disposal. The point of greatest impor- 



98 THE HOESE 

tanoe, we must repeat, is ventilation, and it is 
always possible to keep windows open, and, if 
necessary, substitute a door in two parts for the 
ordinary door. Furthermore, ventilators can be 
added at very small cost, if the stable stands in 
such position as to allow of holes being made 
through the end walls. If the drainage of a 
stable is defective or unsanitary, it is better to stop 
it up and use none, than to have the horses stand- 
ing for the greater part of their lives over minia- 
ture cesspools. If the stalls are carefully and 
thoroughly cleaned out daily, there is no actual 
need for a system of drainage, and horses can live 
healthily on bedding of sawdust or shavings — in 
fact some people, to whom expense is no object, 
use one of these materials in preference to straw. 
Box stalls are preferable to ordinary stalls in more 
ways than one, but are, of course, impossible where 
space is limited. The ability of the horse to turn 
about and stand in any direction, of which he al- 
ways avails himself, is of incalculable benefit to the 
animal. He can get out of draughts ; he can 
place himself in a position to attain the greatest 
amount of fresh air ; and the power to move about, 
instead of being constrained to stand in one po- 
sition, enables him to obtain thorough rest when 



THE HOESE 99 

fatigued. A horse which has the freedom of a 
loose box never stands in the position in which he 
would normally be tied, and presumably he chooses 
the position which is of greatest comfort to him- 
self. It is always possible to improvise a box stall 
or two at small expense. Two movable bars 
placed across the end of a six foot stall will make 
a good loose box for any pony up to 14.2 hands, 
and is, in our experience, exempt from any serious 
objections. The end stalls in a stable can be 
turned into box stalls by putting a couple of bars 
from the stall partition to the opposite wall, thus 
adding the width of the passage to the length of 
the stall. This method is open to the objection 
that the loose horse can, if it so desires, reach its 
neighbor in the next stall, and the ability to do so 
may lead to a tooth and heel battle, with unpleas- 
ant consequences. G-rooms always object to box 
stalls, and will keep the horses tied up in them if 
not sharply looked after. Their opposition is due 
to the slight amount of extra work entailed ; and 
the only real objection ever experienced is that 
their use adds slightly to the straw bill, which ad- 
ditional expense is more than compensated for 
by the increased health and energy of the horses 
kept in them. 



100 THE HOUSE 

If stable room is very limited, the substitution 
of bales for the stall division will allow of each 
horse being kept in a more restricted area, and in 
cart-horse stables, the inmates of which are too 
regularly worked to get into much mischief, it is 
better to do away with stall divisions altogether, 
than run the risk of getting an animal cast in the 
very narrow stalls which are so often provided. 

Building Stables 

If it falls to the lot of the horse-owner to have 
to build stables, he cannot do better than put him- 
self in the hands of a firm which makes a specialty 
of constructing them, seeing that due attention is 
paid to the points indicated. If expense is an ob- 
ject, however, he may cheaply construct a wooden 
stable, which will be healthy and sanitary, on the 
following lines : 

The walls are best made entirely of brick, 
though these can be substituted by a dwarf wall 
of bricks, surmounted by two-inch yellow deal 
creosoted boards or slabs. The roof should pref- 
erably be tiled, and, in every case, boarded under ; 
but good felt tarred every third year will last 
twenty years. In no case should corrugated iron 
be used either for i^oof or walls, because even 



THE HORSE 101 

when boarded inside it is much too hot in summer 
and cold in winter. 

The site of the stable is a point of importance. 
It is necessary to admit sun without placing the 
building in such a position that it becomes unen- 
durably hot in summer. North is out of the ques- 
tion. Due south is tempting, because it will catch 
every ray of sunlight in winter ; but this position 
will be too hot in summer unless the building can 
be placed beneath deciduous trees. The selection 
of a frontage to east or west must be decided by 
the prevailing wind of the district, and in a part 
of the country Avhere sou' westers prevail, the 
choice must fall on the alternative direction. 

The floor must be of grooved concrete, with 
slight slope to an open gutter running along the 
back of the stalls, with fall to either end of the 
building. 

Each stall should be as wide as possible (the 
minimum being five feet), and the divisions, for 
the sake of economy, may be made with bales. 

The mangers should be divided into three di- 
visions. On the left a box-like receptacle, two 
feet four inches deep, and at its edge about two 
feet ten inches to three feet from the ground, to 
hold hay. Kext to it another division on the 



102 THE HOESE 

same principle, but less deep, to hold the mixed 
feed and oats ; and the third of much the same 
dimensions, wherein the bucket of water can be 
placed. 

The door of a small stable, to hold up to five 
horses, may be placed in the centre of the build- 
ing, and should be made in two halves, so that the 
top can be left open if desired. In a longer stable 
there should be a door at each end. A passage 
not less than six feet wide must run between the 
drainage gutter and the outside wall. Ventilators 
should be placed above each stall and below each 
manger, and two windows going well up to the 
top of the building, and capable of being opened 
both top and bottom, may be placed on either side 
of the door. 

The favorite position of a harness-room is usu- 
ally leading out of the stable. As the fumes from 
the stable, the steam from hot horses, etc., is liable 
to tarnish the metal, it is usual to recommend that 
the harness-room be cut off entirely from the 
stable, and approached from outside. Grooms ob- 
ject to this plan, as it entails carrying the harness 
through the rain in wet weather, and, from their 
point of view, this is no doubt a drawback. 
Where space and economy are important, it may 



THE HOESE 103 

be necessary to keep the harness in the coach- 
house, and this is certainly less objectionable than 
keeping it in the stable itself, though undoubtedly 
less convenient. The elaborate iron fittings which 
adorn the modern harness-room may be cheaply 
replaced by a few wooden pegs, etc., but it must 
be remembered that the angles of all wooden tri- 
angular saddle supports should be carefully 
"stopped" with putty, or the interior will be- 
come a harborage for moths. 



CHAPTEE Y 
Food 

Oats 

LoNa experience and analysis have proved oats 
to be the best grain for horses, as, indeed, they 
are for many other animals, including man, the 
reason being that the chemical elements of oats 
are such as are best suited to repair the waste 
caused by long-continued exertion. Animals do- 
ing hard and fast work require food containing a 
large proportion both of nitrogenous and non- 
nitrogenous principles. If the former elements 
are wanting in sufficient quantities in the diet, the 
animal will become deficient in muscle ; if the lat- 
ter are lacking, the animal will become thin. 
Thus a good deal depends on the class and qual- 
ity of oat supplied to working horses, and every 
horse-owner should make himself acquainted with 
the characteristics which distinguish them. . 

Good oats are plump, clean, hard, and sweet, 
with the appearance of almost bursting out of 
104 



THE HOESE 105 

their husks. The husks should preferably be thin, 
because thin-skinned oats will necessarily contain 
more flour per bushel than oats which are thick- 
skinned. All the grains in a good sample should 
be much of the same size, and should be of a 
short, plump variety rather than long and thin. 
Of course, the shape and color of the grain de- 
pend, to a certain extent, on the particular variety 
of oat under consideration ; but, as a broad rule, 
it may be laid down that as black oats grow on 
inferior soils, and as long, thin seeds are usually a 
characteristic of common, unimproved varieties, 
preference should be given to plump white oats, 
which, moreover, are thinner skinned than black 
ones. The sample should be free from weed seeds. 

Oats which are darkened or reddish in color, 
or which are shriveled at the ends of the husks, 
or wdiich have a peculiar smell and taste, should 
be suspected of being kiln dried, and rejected ac- 
cordingly. Damp, musty, or mouldy oats are, of 
course, unfit for food. 

It is never advisable to buy crushed oats, as the 
grain used is likely to be of inferior quality. If 
crushed oats are desired, the whole grain should 
be bought, and (if not crushed in a hand-mill at 
home) taken to the miller, and crushed under su- 



106 THE HORSE 

pervisioii. The usual cost for crushing is about 
twenty-five cents per sack. 

Good oats should weigh forty pounds to the 
bushel. Inferior qualities may weigh as low as 
thirty-two pounds, but good oats at a high price 
are far cheaper for feeding purposes than those of 
poor quality. It is usual to buy oats with the 
stipulation that they shall weigh so much (not 
less, we will say, than thirty-eight pounds) per 
bushel ; but a dealer should never be allowed to 
make up the number of pounds to the bushel by 
giving increased quantity, as, apart from the ques- 
tion of weight, the nutritive quality of good oats, 
grown on good soil, far exceeds that of inferior 
grain, and a few pounds' weight added to the 
measure will not make up for the loss of quality 
in the bulk. 

Other Geaiist 

Corn is often used instead of oats, and answers 
very well for cart horses or horses doing slow 
work. It is the only other grain which is at all 
suitable for horses, barley and wheat being too 
heating if given in any quantity. 

A good economical mixed ration for cart horses 
in regular work is a mixture of beans, oats, barley, 



THE HOESE 107 



and corn, but it is unsuitable for light horses 
which are expected to do fast work. 

Beans contain a greater proportion of nutritive 
material than oats, and are beneficial if given in 
small quantities to old animals or those undergo- 
ing extremely hard work. They should be given 
split, and a " double handful " per diem, in addi- 
tion to the usual quantity of oats, is a fair allow- 
ance for the average horse. 

Hay 

Hay being the staple food of the horse, every 
owner should make himself conversant with the 
various points upon which the quality and value 
depend. 

The quality of hay is dependent, first, upon the 
grasses of which it is composed. Between twenty 
and thirty different grasses may be found in hay, 
only a comparatively small proportion of which go 
to make hay of the best quality. Inferior hay 
consists mainly of inferior grasses : good hay of 
about ten varieties of the best grasses. 

E'ow the variety and proportion of the different 
grasses which grow on land is largely, if not en- 
tirely, influenced by the soil. The best grasses 
only grow on good soil, so that coarse, rank stuff 



108 THE HOESE 

is an indication that it comes from a poor soil, and 
as the nutriment in grass is all extracted from the 
soil, hay from such land will be non-nutritious and 
of small feeding value. Again, there is consider- 
able difference in the quality and feeding value of 
upland, lowland, and water-meadow hay. As only 
certain of the best grasses are to be found in up- 
land meadows, upland hay is characterized by the 
fineness of its herbage, the narrowness of its 
grasses, and is far the best quality of hay to be 
got. It should always be supplied to horses doing 
fast work. Lowland hay is known by the coarse- 
ness of its stalks and the broad leaves of its grasses. 
Water-meadow hay is coarse, and often full of 
reed- and rush-like plants, and, although good cattle 
grass, is considered unfit for horses. 

The characteristics of the best hay are crispness 
and green color, sweetness of taste and aroma, the 
presence of numerous earlj^ grasses in flower, and 
a proportion of fine herbage. 

As stated above, water-meadow hay is generally 
considered unsuitable for horses. A third factor, 
that of the time at which the hay was cut, has 
such an important bearing on its subsequent feed- 
ing value, however, that it is necessary to enter 
into a few details with regard to hay-making as it 



THE HORSE 109 

is, and as it should be conducted, to show how the 
vahie of hay may be influenced by tlie cutting. 
The average farmer often delays cutting his hay 
in the hope of getting greater bulk of under-grass. 
It is a common sight to see fields of standing 
brown herbage so dry that when it is cut it needs 
no making. The greater part of the nutriment of 
all crops passes into the seeds and is exhausted in 
their production — for instance, the feeding value 
of straw is comparatively small because the greater 
part of the nutrient properties has passed into the 
grains of wheat, oats, etc., as the case may be, and 
the same principle applies to grass. If, therefore, 
grass is cut after the seeds are formed and have 
fallen out (as they immediately do when ripe), the 
most nntritious part of the crop is lost, and all that 
is left for the horse to eat is that portion which 
has been robbed of its most valuable constituents. 
For this reason we should prefer to buy, at equal 
prices, a ton of despised water-meadow hay which 
was early cut, while all the grasses were yet in 
flower, to a ton of upland hay from the best land 
which was cut late. Consequently it is almost im- 
possible to lay down any hard-and-fast rules for 
the guidance of the novice in the purchase of hay, 
for in certain cases coarse hay, containing a 



110 THE HORSE 

quantity of inferior grasses, may be of better feed- 
ing value than that made from herbage of the 
finest quality. Experiments have proved that hay 
made from grass cut early will fat a bullock alone, 
while hay from similar land cut late has proved 
quite incapable of doing this without the addition 
of cake, etc. Furthermore, the way hay was saved 
may make an appreciable difference in its feeding 
value, apart from the actual quality of the herbage. 
Grass may be cut early when all the grasses are 
in flower, and yet, owing to bad weather, it 
may have required so much tossing and turning, 
and have lain about so long, that by the time it 
gets to the rick all the sugar will have been washed 
out of it and its value thus reduced. The careful 
modern farmer turns and tosses his hay as little as 
possible, for he knows that the better will the feed- 
ing value be. The old method of tossing hay with 
a pitchfork is quite obsolete, and a careful turning 
over with a hand-rake is the most that is required 
in a favorable season. 

Mow-burned hay may be recognized by its strong 
smell and dark color. The condition is due to 
heating in the stack, and although horses are fond 
of it, it is apt to act deleteriously on the kidneys if 
given to them in any quantity. 



THE HORSE 111 

Dust in hay is generally due to the hay having 
got slightly over-clry. The so-called dust is in 
reality the outer layers or coats of the stems and 
leaves in a state of dessication. Dust may also be 
caused by blight having fallen on the grass when 
standing. In any case, to whatever due, dust in 
hay is an indication that the hay is not in the finest 
condition. Hay which is actually mouldy is ob- 
viously unfit for food, and its use will lead to a 
form of indigestion which will be likely to result 
in broken wind. 

ISTew hay, i. e.^ hay made in the same year, 
should never be used before Christmas, as it is apt 
to cause scouring. Well-saved hay is at its best 
at from one to two years. When older than this 
it will have lost much of its feeding qualities. 

Good clover hay is fattening, and is much liked 
by horses. It is not so suitable as meadow hay for 
animals which do fast work, as it militates against 
hard condition and good wind. 

Straw 

Straw has more feeding value than is usually 
supposed, although, compared to ha}^, these prop- 
erties are, of course, not high. The whole secret 
of its value as food or the reverse lies in the time 



112 THE HOESE 

at which the crop was cut. B}^ reason of their 
liability to seed out, oats are always cut fairly 
green, when, consequently, a lot of the nutrient 
material is still in the straw. Oat straw, then, 
which is kno^vn to have been early cut, may make 
an excellent addition to the forage of horses which 
are not expected to gallop. Wheat straw is cut 
when the grain is comparatively ripe, so that there 
is little if any nutritive material left in it. Barley 
is cut dead ripe, and the straw, for this reason, as 
well as for another to be mentioned hereafter, is 
practically valueless either as food or bedding. 

Othee Eoods 
Bran is generally used in the stable in the form 
of a bran mash, which is made by pouring as much 
boiling water on dry bran as will be absorbed, add- 
ing salt, and putting a handful of dry bran on top 
of the mixture to keep in the steam. Given on 
Saturday nights instead of a feed of corn, this 
mash will, by its somewhat laxative action, help 
to keep in health those horses which spend their 
whole lives in the stable with never a run at grass. 
Dry bran has an astringent action, and is, con- 
sequently, not to be recommended as part of the 
regular dietary. 



THE HORSE 113 

Large quantities of bran should never be bought 
at one time. It should, when fresh, be free from 
any slight musty or sour smell. 

Linseed is also slightly laxative, and is to be 
recommended as a conditioner. It should be 
boiled to a jelly, and a small teacupful given 
daily with the corn for a few weeks will make a 
marked improvement in the appearance of a 
horse's coat. Harsh-coated horses will particu- 
larly benefit by a course of boiled linseed. 

Artificial foods and " conditioners " are not to 
be recommended. The buyer can never tell what 
they are made of, and if guaranteed free from 
injurious ingredients, the price will be prohibitive 
to the ordinary pocket. A horse which cannot live 
and thrive on a good quality of natural food is 
not worth keeping, and is certainly not sufficiently 
valuable to warrant the spending of dollars on 
patent foods of doubtful benefit. If something 
extra is required for a horse which, say, is recover- 
ing from illness, or is from any cause run down, 
the owner can buy the " raw materials," such as 
locust-bean, linseed, ginger, and Indian corn, 
which is what these foods are usually composed of, 
and mix a food for himself at a quarter the cost, and 
with the satisfaction of knowing what he is giving. 



CHAPTEE YI 
Stable Management 

APPLIAISrCES 

EvEEY horse-owner will have to provide him- 
self with a certain number of stable tools, and 
below is a list of those that are absolutely neces- 
sary in the smallest stable. 

Pails 

The first item to be purchased ^Till be buckets, 
at the rate of one per horse if several horses are 
kept, or two for one horse, three for two. Best 
oak pails cost about seventy-five cents each ; if 
painted, about $1.00 ; galvanized pails a little less. 
The latter, if of good qualit}^, and consequently 
strong, answer their purpose as well as the more 
expensive oak, but will not last so long. If 
economy is the order of the day, carefully- 
selected lard buckets, which are to be got at any 
grocer's, will be found as useful in the stable as 
they are for many other purposes. We say " care- 
114 



THE HORSE 115 

fully selected," because the buckets var}^ slightly 
in the quality and thickness of the wood with 
which they are made. They have a copper- wire 
handle, which is perhaps their weakest point ; the 
handle from a worn-out zinc bucket can, however, 
be fastened on as a substitute when the original 
handle has succumbed to the strain. These buckets 
cost very little, and if given a coat of enamel, they 
pass very well for the real thing. From a sanitary 
point of view, zinc pails are preferable to wooden 
ones, as the inevitable deposit from the water is 
more easily and thoroughly cleaned off. 

Beushes, etc. 
Two brushes and a comb are the least that can 
be done with. A " dandy " brush is indispensable 
in every stable, and a body brush is required to 
supplement the dandy if the horses are to be even 
moderately well turned out. A dandy brush costs 
fifty cents, and will generally last a year for a 
couple of horses, after Avhich its remaining fibres 
may be cut down, and the brush will be useful for 
a variety of purposes. The back of a dandy brush 
should never be dipped in water, nor should the 
fibres be wetted except when the brush is oc- 
casionally washed, if it is expected to last. The 



116 THE HORSE 

flat body brush, with its strap across the back 
under which to put the hand, is a more expensive 
affair to buy, but as it will, with ordinary care, 
last several years, its cost will in the end be less 
than that of the dandy. A strong mane comb, a 
small " pick " wherewith to clean the hoofs, and a 
currycomb are the only other really necessary 
items of the toilet, with two or three rubbers or 
dusters with which to give the final polish. We 
have purposely omitted to mention a water-brush, 
as modern stable management condemns the 
practice of washing the feet of horses. 

Other Accessories 

The coach-house and harness-room accessories 
depend on the style in which the vehicles are 
turned out. The least that can be done with in a 
gentleman's stable is as follows: — wheel jack, 
spoke brush, cushion brush, sponge, and chamois 
leather for the carriages ; globe polish, saddle 
soap, silver sand, harness blacking and brushes, 
and burnisher for the harness-room, as well as 
sundry rubbers and dusters or rags. 

Of course, a feed-cutter is an excellent and use- 
ful addition to the stable, and is worth getting if 
several horses are kept ; and a sieve and quarter- 



THE HORSE 117 

peck measure will be required in a stable of the 
smallest dimensions. A pitchfork, shovel, and 
broom will be required for cleaning purposes ; also 
a wheelbarro^v if one cannot be borrowed from 
the garden. 

EouTiNE Management 
The first thing in the morning the groom should 
clean out the stable, removing all soiled litter, and 
flushing out drains if such exist. The horses should 
then have their morning feed of oats or corn and 
hay, and a bucketful of fresh water. After their 
breakfast they should be cleaned, either in or out 
of the stable. It is always preferable that each 
horse should be taken outside if possible for this 
operation, as it is objectionable that the dust and 
debris should fill the stable. The most important 
part of the toilet is a vigorous grooming with the 
dandy brush. The object of brushing, which 
grooms are often apt to overlook, is not so much 
to get a gloss on the animal, though this is no 
doubt desirable, but to apply friction to the skin, 
and thus remove dead cuticle. The gloss is more 
a matter of general health than an indication of 
good grooming, and a horse in the most perfect 
health and condition will carry a bloom without 



118 THE HORSE 

the assistance of elbow-grease. When the mane 
and tail have been combed and brushed, and the 
hoofs picked out, the toilet of the horse may be 
considered to be completed. If the owner has 
doubt as to the efficiency of his groom's work, he 
can get a fair idea of how the horse is cleaned by 
parting the hair of the tail. Much gray dust or 
grease at the roots of the hairs is a sure sign that 
this part receives but little attention from the 
brush, and it is then fairly certain that the body 
of the horse is in the same condition. One should 
always be able to run one's hand over the body of 
a well-cleaned, healthy horse without getting an 
appreciable amount of grease thereon, and the 
presence of much grease suggests either that the 
grooming or the exercise, or both, are neglected. 
These remarks apply, of course, to horses which 
are constantly stabled. Horses at grass are always 
greasy. 

It is customary, as a rule, to feed horses three 
times a day. The midday feed, like the morning 
one, is usually chaff or hay and oats, and the same 
ration is supplemented in the evening by a rackiul 
of hay. 

It is usual in most stables to allow the horses to 
stand on straw all day. It undoubtedly looks 



THE HORSE 119 

nicer; furthermore, it is urged by advocates of 
the practice that horses will be liable to slip upon 
the bare floor, but this rarely if ever occurs. This 
standing on the bedding, and the consequent con- 
tinual wetness of the floor, is the most fruitful 
cause of thrush, and probably, indirectly, causes 
more broken knees than is generally realized. The 
bedding should always be removed in the day- 
time, and, if possible, put outside, where it will 
get purified and dried by the air and sun. The 
stable floor will thus become clean and dry, and 
the result of these measures will be apparent in 
the health of the feet of the horses so treated. 
The half measure of thrusting the straw under 
the manger, where its presence is injurious to eyes 
and lungs, is worse on the whole than leaving it 
down on the floor, and every horse-owner should 
insist on its entire removal for a few hours during 
the daytime. 

Washit^g Feet 
It is the custom in some stables to wash the 
feet of horses when they come in from exercise or 
work. The prevalence of cracked heels, grease, 
thrush, and other evils which more or less inca- 
pacitate a horse for the work which he has to 



120 THE HORSE 

perform, has led to the closer study of the matter, 
and has resulted in the discovery that the above- 
mentioned ills are entirely due to (or, at any rate, 
can be entirely prevented by abstention from) 
washing the feet and legs. The evil lies, of 
course, in the drying rather than the actual wash- 
ing. The extreme cold produced by the rapid 
evaporation of the half -dried hair drives the blood 
away from the part, and the consequent cold feet 
are liable to eczema and cracked heels. The clip- 
ping of the hair off the back part of the fetlock is 
another predisposing cause. Bandaging the legs 
immediately after washing may to some extent 
prevent the evil; but the only true and satis- 
factory method is to clean the legs with a wisp, 
and never allow water to be applied to them. 
Grooms object to this, as it gives them more 
trouble and the legs do not look so nice ; but it 
should be insisted on. The slight dust and mud 
collected by the feet during exercise has been 
found to be the reverse of prejudicial if left on, 
and no horse-owner need fear any ill effects from 
departing from the old-established method of 
washing the feet and legs of horses. He will 
find, on the contrary, that his stable will be abso- 
lutely free from those complaints to which nine 



THE HORSE 121 

out of ten stabled horses are subject in the 
winter. 

Mud fever is another ailment which can, as a 
rule, be traced to faulty methods of management. 
At one time quite a large proportion of clipped 
hunters and harness horses in certain districts were 
the victims of this complaint. It has now been 
found that if the mud is left to dry on the hoi'se 
will never suffer from any inflammatory condi- 
tion of the skin. This may seem a somewhat 
drastic and dirty method, and it does not recom- 
mend itself to tidy grooms, but it is the only sure 
preventative of the complaint. In those stables 
in which the owner takes an intelligent and active 
interest in his animals, the hunters are turned into 
their boxes with legs and belly uncleaned, and the 
dried mud is not removed until the following 
morning. This practice has been attended with 
the happiest results as far as the health of the 
horses is concerned, and it is to be recommended 
to all who wish to keep their animals lit and well, 
and free from those tiresome minor ailments which 
incapacitate a number of harness horses and hunt- 
ers every year. The practice of washing the 
bodies of horses is not to be recommended under 
ordinary circumstances, as it has a tendency to 



122 THE HOKSE 

check the action of the oil glands, which, under 
natural conditions, secrete oil to assist the thatch 
or covering of hair to turn off rain ; also, unless 
each part is immediately and thoroughly dried, 
one of the above-mentioned skin diseases will be 
likely to appear. 

A sweating horse should be immediately dried 
on its return home by vigorous rubbing with hay 
or straw wisps. If a heated horse is allowed to 
dry by evaporation it will probably contract a 
chill. The extremities should always be dried 
first, and while this is being done a blanket should 
be thrown over the body. A fruitful source of 
coughs and chills is exposure of the heated back 
and loins to the cold while the groom is drying 
legs and head. The saddle or harness should al- 
ways be left on while these parts are attended to, 
and in addition, if the horse is very hot, a blanket 
should be thrown across the loins. While on this 
subject we may suggest the advisability of always 
throwing a light cloth across the loins of the 
clipped harness horse in winter if it has to stand 
about out-of-doors for more than two or three 
minutes. 

If for any reason it is impossible to immediately 
dry a perspiring horse, the evil consequence which 



THE HORSE 1^3 

may result from the delay may be minimized by 
clothing the animal warmly and putting on band- 
ages, or by having it led about with saddle on un- 
til it can be attended to. 

Grooming with a hard brush immediately after 
exercise is essential to the health of a horse, as the 
pores are then all open and the brush will thor- 
oughly clean the skin. Extra grooming should 
always be insisted on as a substitute for exercise 
in bad weather. 

Clipph^tg 
Well-bred horses kept continually stabled sel- 
dom want clipping, and if the animals have to do 
work which entails much standing about, it is cer- 
tainly not to be recommended. Clipped horses 
are easier to clean and dry, and can (theoretically) 
do their work bettor, than horses carrying a long 
winter coat ; but against this it is necessary to put 
the increased liability (and consequent risk of total 
or temporary loss) of the animals catching cold, 
and the additional expense of providing blankets, 
clipping machine, etc. The method of clipping 
the legs and belly onl}^, Avith the idea of leaving a 
warm covering over back and loins, is not to be 
recommended, as the horse is as likely to contract 



124 THE HORSE 

chill if his extremities are bare as if he was entirely 
clipped. In rough countries the legs of hunters 
are often left undipped to save them from slight in- 
juries. Some people leave the hair under the sad- 
dle of a riding horse. Is is difficult to see what 
benefit results from doing so, as the Idng hair can 
only add to the heat of a part which will in any 
case become heated, and the risk of a sore back is 
increased therebj^. 

One thick cloth is enough covering for the body 
of a clipped horse in the average stable. The legs 
and feet of the horse, which has had his hair arti- 
ficially removed from them, get colder than they 
ought, and for this reason the hair should be left 
on the legs of all horses, whatever their work. If 
the hair is removed, bandaging is the only way in 
which the extremities can be protected, and con- 
tinual bandaging is not advisable. The horse- 
cloth should always meet over the chest. It must 
always be remembered that the horse must nat- 
urally feel the artificial removal of his protective 
covering during the time of year when nature has 
provided him with it because he requires it, and 
that, therefore, he must be supplied with a fair 
substitute if it is desired to keep him in health and 
condition. It is usual to supply a common night- 



THE HORSE 125 

blanket to save the better day-cloth from the inev- 
itable soiling when the horse lies clown. 

In some stables it is the practice to keep the 
horses clothed practically all the year round in one 
kersey cloth, and to load them with two or three 
when clipped. The horse's hair is, no doubt, made 
finer and shorter by this treatment ; but it must 
also be weakening to an animal to be so loaded 
with hot blankets, and the liability to chills at all 
times of the year is, of course, intensified. The 
fewer blankets the better in every stable, espe- 
cially for horses such as hunters, whose work en- 
tails a lot of standing about in every class of 
weather. 

Clipping should not be commenced before the 
end of the first week in October, and may need to 
be done once again before Christmas, l^o horse 
should be clipped after Christmas, or it will be very 
late in getting its summer coat. If the removal 
of the hair is left until the coat is " set," which 
will be early in November, the operation will only 
need to be performed once. 

Bedding 

The choice of bedding lies between the various 
straws and sawdust. Some few people favor 



126 THE HOKSE 

sawdust because of its slightly antiseptic prop- 
erties, which they consider beneficial to the 
horse's feet. When straw is scarce there is no 
reason it should not be used as a substitute, pro- 
vided all the drains are carefully stopped up. For 
horses which eat their beds, some substitute for 
straw has to be provided, and we should prefer 
sawdust. The latter is only to be recommended 
if the owner is unusually favorably situated for 
obtaining it easily and cheaply. About 100 lbs. 
per week will be required, and the sawdust should 
be entirely renewed every week. Grooms will 
generally raise objections to the use of sawdust, 
because it is apt to make the stable and the horse 
very dusty, and consequently their work is in- 
creased. 

Of the various straws, wheat is, in every re- 
spect, the most suitable for bedding. Oat straw 
is too expensive, and also few horses will be able 
to resist the temptation of eating it. Barley 
straw should never be used, as the '' awns " get 
into the horse's coat, cause intense irritation, and 
subsequently lead to a skin eruption. All 
" bearded " straws are open to the same objection. 
Therefore we are perforce reduced to common 
wheat straw, which varies in price, according to 



THE HORSE 12Y 

district, season, etc. About thirty pounds a week 
will make a good bed for one horse ; but under 
strictly economical management, and if the litter 
is turned out and dried daily, this allowance can 
be considerably reduced. In all cases a thick bed 
should be provided, as it adds to the rest, comfort, 
and therefore to the general welfare and working 
capacity of the animal. 



CHAPTEE YII 

Feeding and Watering 

Feeding 
• As already remarked, hay and oats is the staple 
food of the horse. Corn is not a natural food, 
and it is questionable if too large a proportion in 
the dietary is not absolutely injurious. As we 
keep horses in an artificial manner and work 
them, we must presumably feed them to a certain 
extent artificially to enable them to perform their 
duties. At the same time, it is constantly proved 
that horses are capable of long and sustained 
exertion on a dietary of nothing but grass. We 
hear of men in the far West catching up a horse 
and riding it for distances such as we should not 
dream of traversing in the Eastern states, and the 
animal is apparently in no way the worse. It is 
doubtful, however, if a grass-fed animal would be 
capable of doing regular hard work under these 
conditions, although it is certain that it is capable 
of violent exertion occasionally. Many horses, 
128 



THE HORSE 129 

however, live on grass alone, without the addition 
of dry food, and are not less active or capable than 
stabled horses. In autumn and winter, though, 
the}^ are liable to sweat profusely if driven far, 
and in consequence of the danger of a chill from 
this cause, and the diiiiculty of drying the long 
coat thoroughly before turning out again, it is 
perhaps inadvisable to keep out at grass all the 
winter a horse which has to work regularly. As 
hinted in a previous chapter, it is not wise to clip 
horses which are kept in the stable. 

Presuming, then, that a horse is regularly 
worked, he will require a proportion of oats in 
his dietary. The regulation cavalry allowance is 
twelve pounds per day, given in three feeds, and 
experience has proved that it is sufficient for 
animals doing regular work. Hunters are often 
given as much as fifteen or sixteen pounds, and 
the same amount is the average quantity con- 
sumed by race-horses in training. There is no 
doubt that the harder the work the greater the 
quantity of food required ; but we question 
whether the additional food, always remembering 
that oats are not a natural food, is not best suited 
to the horse's stomach and digestive capacity if it 
takes the form of best quality hay. Four quarter- 



130 THE HORSE 

peck measures, or ten pounds of oats (each quarter- 
peck measure weighing t\YO and a half pounds 
if the oats are of good quality and forty pounds 
to the bushel) per diem, should be ample for a 
sixteen-hand carriage horse doing daily work. 
When doing little work, one measure less is suffi- 
cient. 

The demeanor of the individual is the best indi- 
cation of the quantity of oats which suits him, as 
horses undoubtedly vary in the amount which 
they require and which is good for them. Unduly 
exuberant spirits, and a playfulness which borders 
on the dangerous, is generally an indication that 
the work is inadequate for the food, and a better 
adjustment, by the reduction of the latter by a 
" feed," will usuall}^ result in a rational sobriety. 

Some horses are unable to ''stand" corn at all, 
and do not thrive as well if it is included in their 
menu. Such animals are usually what we might 
call the less refined members of the race — tlie 
older, less improved varieties. The more thorough- 
bred blood a horse possesses, the more corn will 
he be capable of assimilating, and the less well 
will he do without it as a rule. As thoroughbreds 
are practically raised on oats, their digestion has 
presumably adapted itself to this food. Ponies, 



THE HORSE 131 

on the contrary, can rarely stand oats, which im- 
mediately '' get into their heads," and cause them 
to be unruly and unmanageable. Oats are said to 
be unsuitable, also, for Arabian horses, and one of 
our greatest breeders cautions purchasers against 
feeding horses of this variety on the regular sys- 
tem, and advocates a diet exclusively composed of 
hay and grass. The exciting principle in oats, it 
may be mentioned, is an albuminoid called avenine, 
and its bad effects are minimized if the oats are 
given bruised or ground. 

Ponies under twelve hands, then, will do better 
on hay only, and all ponies which are doing little 
work will thrive best if corn is withheld. Ponies 
of about fourteen hands, which are doing hard 
and regular work, may have an allowance of two 
quarter-peck measures daily if the}^ can stand it. 

It must always be borne in mind that the corn 
must be regulated to the work, and that it is only 
needful as an addition to hay or grass when or be- 
cause a horse is working. Also that, as a rough 
rule, the longer hours a horse works, the more 
oats will he be able to consume with benefit to 
himself, and, consecjuently, the more work will he 
be capable of performing. In mentioning the 
necessary allo^vances of oats, it is, of course, pre- 



132 THE HOESE 

sumed that the grain under consideration is of the 
very highest quality. 

Hay 

The horse is so fashioned as to require a certain 
proportion of bulky food for the mechanical dis- 
tention of his stomach, without which it will not 
act properly. Hay, in the absence of grass, fulfils 
this function, and for this reason it is not correct 
to give a dietary of oats ad lib., with a little hay 
as an addition, but exactly the opposite, and, pre- 
sumably, more natural and healthy regime. It is 
customary to give chopped hay with the oats in 
many stables, with the idea that it will prevent 
the horse being able to " gobble " his feed up too 
rapidly. We fail to see any advantage in this 
mixed ration, and it is liable to give rise to several 
undesirable results. For instance, a horse will 
generally " nose " out a good deal of the chopped 
hay to get at the grain, and a pro]3ortion of the 
feed will in consequence be wasted. Also, the 
owner is sometimes tempted to cut up inferior hay 
with the idea that the horse will eat it thus, 
though he would refuse it if given vfhole. As bad 
hay is equally injurious to the animal whether he 
eats it long or short, this practice cannot be too 



THE HORSE 133 

strongly condemned, and we wonld also particu- 
larly warn the horse-owner agamst buying hay 
already cut. The commonest trick of the hay 
merchant is to cut inferior stuff, and deliver it as 
a portion of the purchased load, as in this way he 
saves a bale or so of the good hay for which he 
has been paid a fair price, and substitutes some 
damaged fodder which is probably worthless and 
unfit for food for horses. If chopped hay is used, 
it must be cut at home from such samples of hay 
as would be given to the horse long ; but, as we 
have already suggested, such slight advantage as 
may accrue from its use is hardly worth the ex- 
pense of pm^chase of a feed-cutter, and the waste 
of a man's time using it. 

The arni}^ ration of hay is twelve pounds, and 
this is no doubt sufficient for a horse in ordinary 
work. If the oat ration is cut down the hay al- 
lowance must be proportionately raised, and for 
every pound of oats which is saved three extra 
pounds of hay should be given. For animals do- 
ing hard work we should allow as much hay as 
they w^ill eat, which amount will soon be arrived 
at by experiment and observation. Horses which 
are leading an easy life will need to be rationed 
if it is desired that they do not become unduly 



134 THE HORSE 

fat. In any case, if a horse " picks over " his hay, 
pulling out and neglecting all but the choicest 
locks, it is an indication that he is being supplied 
with too great an amount. Ponies of fourteen 
hands which are not having oats will need twelve 
to fourteen pounds per diem ; small ponies under 
twelve hands eight to ten pounds. One should 
never stint hay to any variety of horse, preferring 
rather to limit the oats if a reduction in the diet- 
ary is necessary. If chopped feed is given, a pro- 
portion of the above-mentioned allowances must 
of course be cut up. 

It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the 
horse-owner that the food must be regulated to 
the work of the individual, and that consequently 
it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast 
rules about the quantity of food required. Too 
fat a horse is as incapable of doing good work as 
one too thin, and the object must always be to 
keep the animal in that condition which will best 
enable him to perform that which is required of 
him with the greatest ease to himself. 

TuRNiisTG Out to Grass 
It is undoubtedly beneficial to every horse to 
get an annual run at grass. Not only does the 



THE HORSE 135 

change to their natural diet have a good action on 
the digestive organs, but their feet also benefit. 
The temporary loss of " hard " condition is of 
small consequence when compared with the gain 
in health which results. Every horse-owner is 
not, however, in a position to be able to throw his 
animals out of work while they indulge in a 
well-earned holiday, and to these it is suggested 
that they should turn their horses out at night 
all through the summer, giving their usual corn 
ration but no hay during the day, and working 
them as usual. By this method no loss of condi- 
tion will ensue, a,nd the horses will be found to 
work as well as when kept entirely stabled. The 
change should be made gradually, and the animals 
turned out for an hour or two at first only. Also 
before bringing them in for the winter their hay 
ration should be begun, and daily increased for a 
week or two -before bringing them in altogether. 
Horses may run out at night from about the first 
week in May until well on into September. 

It is not advised, under any circumstances, to 
turn horses out during the daytime in summer as 
is so often done by the inconsiderate owner, unless 
the animal has its natural mane and tail. The 
cruelty of turning out a docked (and hogged) horse 



136 THE HORSE 

in the daytime cannot be too strongly condemned, 
for when deprived of his only protections his exist- 
ence is merely one of misery and irritation. The 
torment to which he is subjected by the myriads 
of flies deprives him of all peace, and he is unable 
to feed or rest. Under these conditions the prac- 
tice is simple cruelty. The same mutilated horse 
can spend the night in comparative comfort, and 
will gain the full benefit from the changed condi- 
tions of his existence if taken indoors not later 
than eight o'clock every morning. If a horse has 
a long mane, tail, and forelock, there is less ob- 
jection to leaving him out all day, though he will 
spend all his time m some shady corner and will 
not get much food or rest. 

Watering 
Much diversity of opinion exists as to the best 
methods of watering horses. In a natural state 
the wild Equidse drink only once or at most twice 
a day, consequently we might be tempted to pre- 
sume that our horses are not thirsty animals. We 
must remember, however, that we- feed our stabled 
animals on food which is entirely lacking in juici- 
ness and natural moisture, and that therefore they 
are obliged to acquire this necessary moisture by 



THE HORSE 137 

drinking a great deal more water, and by taking 
it often er, than they would need to if fed on 
naturally juicy food. The horse's intestines are so 
formed that they can drink a large quantity of 
water at a time, so that the common practice of 
watering a horse three or four times a day is 
founded on the natural capacity of the animal. It 
is better, however, to always stand a bucket of 
water in the stall or box, so that the horse may 
take it when he likes and in what quantities he 
fancies. Furthermore, horses when eating dry hay, 
etc., will be seen to constantly take a mouthful of 
water wherew^ith to moisten it if a bucketful is 
within reach. Under these circumstances the 
bucket should be refilled each time the horse is 
fed, and it is strongly urged that every horse- 
owner adopt this method, and keep water always 
within reach of his animals. Some people have 
protested against standing a bucket in the corner of 
a loose box on the score of possible injury to the 
horse by getting his foot into it ; but no accident 
from such a cause has ever been reported. If the 
manger is unsuitable to stand a bucket in, the lat- 
ter could no doubt be dropped into an iron support 
attached at a convenient height to the wall. 
Horses should always be watered before they 



138 THE HORSE 

are fed, as water given in any quantities after food 
is liable to cause colic. 

There is no objection to allowing a horse to 
drink a bucketful of cold water immediately he 
comes in heated from work. If he is much ex- 
hausted, however, or if he has had time to partially 
cool, the cold water should be withheld, as it may 
lower the whole temperature of the body, and 
cause chill. In such cases a little tepid water, or a 
bucketful of warm gruel, will be beneficial. 

Horses always prefer soft water to hard ; spring 
water to well water. Rain water collected in 
tanks is not wholesome, as it is generally full of a 
quantity of decomposing matter. Obviously, only 
the cleanest, purest water, such as w^ould be drunk 
in the house, is fit for horses. Many fallacies 
exist with regard to the most suitable water, and 
there is an example of a coachman who habitually 
gave his horses soapy water to drink, with the idea 
that it was better for them than the clean, pure 
liquid. E"o one can go wrong if they give the best 
and purest water, and plenty of it. A horse will 
drink from five to eight gallons a day, and it has 
been found that the animal will drinli a much 
greater quantity when watered than he will if he 
always has access to it. Naturally a horse should 



THE HORSE 139 

never be watered immediately before going out to 
work. All these small rules require attention if 
the method of watering is persisted in. 

Salt 
A lump of rock-salt should have a place in every 
manger. 



CHAPTER VIII 
The Care of the Feet 

It is necessary to pay great attention to the feet 
and legs of a horse, as there is no truer saying 
than " No foot, no horse." Blacksmiths are not 
always infallible, and it is advisable to know Avhat 
ought and ought not to be done when one's animal 
pays its periodical visits to the smithy. The first 
essential is to preserve the foot in a sound and 
healthy state, and if this is done, almost any kind 
of shoe will be found to answer fairly well. 

The foot consists of an outer wall or crust ; the 
bars, which are a reduplication inward of the crust 
at the heels ; the sole, which is the flat or rather 
concave surface; and the frog, an elastic pad 
placed on the back of the foot. The crust is the 
equivalent of our finger nail, and consists of a 
number of fibres running longitudinally from the 
coronet. This crust should never be rasped. To 
give a neater appearance to the shoe and to make 
the hoof fit it, the average blacksmith generally 
140 



THE HOESE 141 

runs his rasp over the crust, and in so doing 
destroys the strongest fibres, leading eventually to 
-disease, inflammation, and other evils. A good 
blacksmith will make his shoe to fit the horse, 
and no workman should be tolerated who cannot 
do this. 

In consequence of the protection afforded by 
the shoes, the crust will require to be pared down 
each month by removing with a knife the ground 
surface. The heels should be kept sufficiently low 
to allow of the frog touching the ground, as the 
frog is used by the horse in a state of nature to 
get a grip with, and obviate concussion ai;d slip- 
ping. Nothing is worse than to see a horse raised 
up on his shoes, with a cavity between his frog 
and the ground. 

The bars are provided by nature as a preventa- 
tive (by acting as a stay) against contraction, and 
if left alone they answer their purpose very well. 
Blacksmiths are very fond, however, of cutting 
them out, with the result that horses so treated 
will suffer from contracted feet and corns. Most 
of the cases of bad corns and quittor can be traced 
to this cause, and the only way to effect a cure is 
to shoe the horse with tips, so as to cause again, 
by use and pressure, the development of the bars. 



142 THE HORSE 

The sole, again, needs only to be left alone, and 
should on no account be pared or interfered with. 

The frog, like the sole, exfoliates in flakes, and 
therefore also needs no paring. Curiously enough, 
without pressure and friction the frog will shrivel 
and almost cease to exist, and it can only be kept in 
a healthy state by allowing it to touch the ground, 
as mentioned above. If the frog is already in an 
unhealthy condition, and is-., the seat of thrush, it 
may be necessary to trim off ragged ends ; but 
this should be no excuse for paring it down. 

Horses should, as a rule, be shod once a month 
with new shoes. If their work is of a light nature 
and mostly slow, or on soft ground, it will not be 
necessary to renew the shoes more than once in 
six or eight weeks ; but under these circumstances 
the shoes should be removed at the end of three 
or four weeks, in order that the crust may be 
pared and the shoe shaped before being reapplied. 
A better method still is to have new, thin shoes 
(as thin as is compatible with the amount of wear 
required) every month ; but it is more costly than 
the former method. Tips require removing every 
fortnight ; but in spite of this drawback their use 
is much to be recommended, as there is no doubt 
that the foot will be kept in a sounder, healthier 



THE HORSE 143 

condition, and will grow much stronger than it 
will with ordinary shoes. 'No fear need be en- 
tertained that the frog or crust will wear out. 

On the return of the horse from the smithy, 
observe (1) that there is no mark of rasp on the 
hoofs, and that they are not blacked or oiled to 
hide the signs of rasping ; (2) that the sole has not 
been pared out ; (3) that the frog has not been 
pared out unless it is unhealthy and ragged ; (4) 
that the clinches hare not been rasped after being 
turned down ; (5) that the shoe does not project 
beyond the wall of the hoof ; (6) that the bars 
have not been cut. Some blacksmiths make it a 
practice to run a little tar into the cleft of the 
frog: this plan is a good one where there is a 
tendency to thrush, and under any circumstances 
can do no harm. 



CHAPTEK IX 

Cost of Keeping a Horse 

As a number of people are deterred from keep- 
ing a horse because of their uncertainty of the 
expense to which such a hixurj will put them ; 
and as an equal number embark upon horse-keep- 
ing and eventually find, to their sorrow, that the 
expenditure is greater than they anticipated ; as 
also a good deal of ignorance is constantly dis- 
played (and consequently taken advantage of) 
about the fair and proper prices of stable 
accessories ; a chapter devoted to prices may be 
useful to the novice, and may save him from hav- 
ing to learn these matters in the most expensive 
of schools, experience. The prices we give are, 
of course, only approximate. Prices vary in every 
part of the country, so that it is impossible to do 
more than suggest a fair average price for the 
best quality of al'ticle. If the prices paid by the 
reader are less than we name, he should be sus- 
picious of the quality of the goods he is buying. 
It always pays to buy the best of everything ; and 
it must be remembered that, as a rule, the best 
144 



THE HORSE 145 

costs more to produce than the uiferior, therefore 
it is impossible to buy "best quality " at second 
best prices. 

Stable Utet^sils 
We will first see what amount of capital will 
need to be invested in the minimum number of 
stable utensils and appliances for one horse : 

1 head collar, |2.50 

1 tie rope with spring hook, , . . .25 

1 shovel, 75 

1 fork, ....... .75 

1 broom, .50 

J doz. dusters, .50 

1 hoof pick, 25 

1 currycomb, 40 

1 mane comb, . . . . . . .35 

2 pails, 1.50 

1 corn measure, 50 

1 sieve, ....... .50 

1 dandy brush, 75 . 

1 body brush, ...... 1.50 

1 4-bushel corn-bin, 4.00 

$15.00 

To these may be added — '^'"" 

1 kersey horse-cloth, .... $7.00 

1 roller, 1.00 

1 jute night-cloth with surcingle, . . 2 50 

1 clipping machine, 2.00 

Sundry brushes, metal polish, soaps, etc., 

for cleaning harness, .... 2.50 

$15.00 



146 THE HORSE 

If two horses are kept, the above total of $30.00 
must be augmented by another $10.00 for extras, 
blankets, etc. The great additional expense of 
artificially removing a horse's coat will at once be 
seen, and it is for the individual owner to make up 
his mind whether the amount of work his horse 
has to perform warrants this. Naturally, cloths 
for ponies will be slightly cheaper. Of course it 
is not necessary to use a kersey cloth, and the jute 
cloth can be made to serve the double purpose ; 
but a change of clothing is healthier for the ani- 
mal, so that the cloth not in use can get a daily 
airing. A slight saving in expense may be made 
by the purchase of a second-hand cloth. Such are 
always procurable at some of the dealers in any 
large city ; but it may be remarked that the danger 
of the contraction of some skin or other disease 
from a second-hand cloth is a very real one, and it 
is strongly advised that the clothing should be sub- 
jected to thorough disinfection before being used. 

Fodder and Litter 

Good hay varies in price according to season, 

quality, neighborhood, demand, etc., but as a rule, 

under ordinary conditions the best quality cannot 

be bought for less than $20.00 per ton. As a 



THE HORSE 147 

horse will consume not less than twelve pounds 
per diem, at this rate of consumption a ton of hay 
will last one horse about 170 days, or, roughly 
speaking, six months. 

Oats will average from sixty to seventy cents per 
bushel. Taking the larger price as the one most 
likely to be paid for a good quality of grain, we shall 
find that with a consumption of ten pounds per diem 
a sack of one hundred and sixty pounds will last 
sixteen days, and as we must allow for an extra 
feed or two and for slight waste, we find that a 
fair allowance for a horse is two sacks per month. 
Bran we will leave out of the question, as if it 
is occasionally used the oats will be proportionately 
saved. 

Straw will cost on an average twelve cents per 
bundle, and two bundles a week will be required 
to make a horse a good bed. 

We therefore find that the annual cost of food 
and litter for one horse works out to a sum, roughly^ 
of— 

Hay, 2 tons, at $20.00 per ton, $40.00 

Oats, 100 bus. at 70c., 70.00 

Straw, 104 bundles, at 12c. each, .... 12.50 

$122.50 

or about $2.35 per week. 



148 THE HORSE 

The lowest estimate of cost of keep of a small 
pony which consumes, say, about ten pounds of 
hay daily would be, roughly, seventy-five cents 
per week, and straw fifteen cents in addition, giv- 
ing an annual total of $45.00 in round figures. 

As the foregoing table proves, oats are the ex- 
pensive item in the horse's menu, the daily reduc- 
tion of every two and a half pounds (or quarter-peck 
measure) will mean an annual saving of $15.00 
on the total bill. 

To this sum has to be added the shoeing bill. 
Two and a half dollars is the usual price charged 
by good reliable blacksmiths and shoes should be 
renewed at least every month, making an annual 
cost of $30.00. Sometimes the shoes will not be 
worn out in a month and will only require remov- 
ing, in which case there will be a saving in tlie 
shoe bill. The horse-owner must also allow an 
annual sum for replacing worn-out accessories, 
buying harness paste, mending harness, etc. Such 
incidental expenses as veterinary bills we do not 
take into consideration, because if the horse is fed 
on the best of food, is sensibly treated, and is care- 
fully chosen in the lirst instance, it should remain 
healthy and sound for a great number of years. 
The total estimate for entire keep of one horse on 



THE HORSE U9 

a generous scale amounts approximately to $150.00 
per annum. 

The keep of cart horses can be made to come to 
considerabh" less. As they are not requn^ed to do 
fast work, they will thrive on a mixed ration such 
as w^ould be quite unsuitable for hunters and har- 
ness horses, and they can in consequence be kept 
for from $2.00 to $2.50 per week. The shoes of 
farm horses, instead of being steel, are often made 
of iron, and it is usual for farmers to contract with 
the village blacksmith to keep their horses shod 
for a fixed annual sum. 

We have hitherto left out of consideration the 
fact that the horse-owner may be able to run his 
animals at night all through the summer in a pad- 
dock. The hay saved will probably be swallowed 
up in rent of land, so that the only profit will be 
the indirect one of increased health and longer 
working ca]:)acity of the horses. If the land is 
cheap its quality will l)e bad, and conseijuently a 
greater acreage will be I'ocjuired to I'un the horses 
on. AVe have also omitted to add iii'oom's wages, 
and the prospective owner must not forgot this 
item, nor the additional capital which has to be 
expended on horse, carriage, and lia.rness, etc., wlien 
going into the matter of the C(\st of a turn on t. 



CHAPTEE X 
Hints on Breaking and Driving 

There is a fascination for some people in the 
idea of buying or breeding young horses, breaking 
them in, and selling them when they have "grown 
into money." That they more often grow into 
some unsoundness has nothing to do with our 
present aspect of the case, and the true gambler in 
immature horse-flesh is not usually deterred from 
his speculative amusement by one or two pieces of 
what he calls " bad luck." It is obviously impos- 
sible, within the limits of the present handbook, 
to do more than touch upon the outlines of a mat- 
ter which has been the subject of many volumes. 
Therefore a few hints on the most important points 
in connection with the breaking to harness and 
driving of horses, for the benefit of the amateur 
who has hitherto had little experience in these 
matters are all that it is possible to embody in the 
present article. 

Tackle 

The indispensable equipment which is required 
150 



THE HORSE 151 

is a strong set of harness, a head-stall, a surcingle, 
and a large stock of patience. The quality of the 
last is probably the most important, because 
although horses of a certain disposition may be 
hurriedly broken in with success, yet the colt with 
pluck and spirit, which Avill eventually make the 
most pleasant harness horse, requires dealing de- 
liberately with. Also, the more gradually each 
lesson is instilled, the more permanent will be the 
impression. Some people seem to think that by 
some wonderful and unexplainable hereditary 
process, a horse is born more or less broken in. 
Obviously, unbreakable and vicious animals have 
in course of ages been weeded out, and a naturally 
tractable stock hands on its nature to subsequent 
generations ; but it is the disposition only which is 
passed on, nothing more tangible is acquired ; and 
every colt has to be as carefully taught ^vhat is 
required of him in his service to man as his mother 
was before him. 

Horses are by nature good tempered ; some, 
however, are much more nervous and high spirited 
than others, and if roughly handled are extremely 
liable to resent bad treatment by a display of 
their powers of self-defense, which we call bad 
temper. These are the horses which try the 



152 THE HORSE 

breaker's skill and patience, and are so often 
returned as spoilt from the hands of the profes- 
sional. The breaker cannot spend too much time 
over the education of a nervous horse, and as such 
subjects are usually of good breeding and quality, 
the time spent will be well repaid later on when 
selling time comes. 

Food 
The first point to be taken into consideration is 
the feeding of the colt. Possibly more depends 
on this, particularly when breaking ponies, than 
might at first sight be supposed. A colt is not 
going to be worked, he is merely going to be 
broken in, and a diet which would be .quite unfit 
for him under the first conditions will suit him 
admirably during his educational course. Corn 
should be absolutely withheld, and the diet re- 
stricted to hay ad lib., or, preferably, grass picl^ed 
up in a small paddock. The more sluggish the colt 
is at this time, in reason, the more quickly will he 
accept the new instruction and adapt himself to 
new conditions. Therefore it is perfectly legiti- 
mate, indeed it is of important assistance, to keep 
the colt in an obese and phlegmatic state by a 
grass dietary — which must not be confounded 



THE HORSE 153 

with a low and weak condition, which is an 
entirely different thing, and not to be recom- 
mended, on account of the various troubles it may 
indirectly bring in its train. 

Catching 

If a colt will not come to hand in the paddock, 
he will have to be driven into a shed or stable and 
there captured. It will save time if he is ac- 
customed to come to a quarter-peck measure with 
some corn in it. Then, if he is Avithout a head- 
stall, he can be captured with a halter in the fol- 
lowing manner : Pull out the running nose-band, 
and slip it round the quarter-peck measure, keep- 
ing the head piece of the halter to the outer side of 
the measure. As the horse feeds with his nose in 
the measure, the nose-band can be almost imper- 
ceptibly slip])ed up the measure and round his 
nose, while the head piece is passed quietly over his 
ears. 

When endeavoring to catch or drive in a horse, 
never run. If the animal breaks back, do not, by 
violent gesticulations, endeavor to stop him, or 
run and tr}^ to cut him off. If you run, so will the 
horse ; and as he can run the fastest, he will get 
the best of it, and will, furthermore, enjoy the 



154 THE HORSE 

excitement. Walk slowly after him, and grad- 
ually work him in the desired direction, and in the 
end you will get him to do what you want. It 
may take time, but not half so long as it will if he 
is upset and frightened or excited. 

If a halter must be used to break in instead of 
a head -stall, do not forget to knot the slip rope, to 
prevent, as far as possible, squeezing and chafing 
the jaws. 

Teaching to Lead 
The next point is to teach the horse to lead. In 
this connection, and, indeed, throughout the pre- 
liminary handling, much more rapid and success- 
ful progress will be made if the breaker makes up 
his mind to work single-handed and to have no 
spectators. ISlo animal is more suspicious than a 
young horse — suspicious of every object and every 
movement. Thus his whole time is spent in 
closely watching the actions of those around him, 
and this very peculiarity of his is of the greatest 
value to the horse-breaker. It is essential that he 
should follow every movement, and learn to 
connect each with its proper function in connection 
with himself, because only in this way does he 
assimilate and profit by the lessons taught him. 



THE HOESE 165 

N'ow, if two or three persons are present, the colt 
gets confused with trying to keep an eye on all 
of them at once, gets terribly nervous, hardly 
realizes what is being done to him, and much 
valuable time and energy of both horse and 
breaker are wasted. This has been proved time 
after time. In the case of a terribly nervous and 
wild little hill pony brood mare of nine years old 
which was being broken, she could be caught, 
bridle, surcingle, and crupper affixed in about five 
minutes, alone ; but the presence of an assistant 
rendered it impossible to do these things at all 
except by sheer force and after a prolonged 
struggle. 

The first step in the actual breaking, then, is to 
affix the head-stall with a four-foot rope attached 
to its back dee, and by pulling the horse's head 
round to one side to upset his equilibrium and get 
him to move. IS'ever stand in front of a horse 
and endeavor to drag him forward. For one 
thing, it is impossible to succeed in making him 
budge an inch by this means if he does not Avish 
to, as he is perfectly stable in this position, and is 
heavier than his breaker. If you stand close to 
the shoulder, however, and pull or push the head 
round gently, the horse is bound to move a fore- 



156 THE HOESE 

foot. Then he can be judiciously made to move 
again in a more or less circular direction, until he 
suddenly seems to understand what is wanted, and 
leads freely. 

Mouthing 

The next lesson is to mouth the colt with a bit 
affixed to the side dees of the head-stall. Here a 
surcingle, and the crupper off the set of harness, 
will be required, and a rope or rein passed from 
the bit through the back loop of the crupper, 
which is kept in place by the surcingle. It may 
incidentally be mentioned that a horse cannot kick 
the operator when putting on the crupper if the 
latter is careful to stand just behind the shoulder 
and close to the horse, remembering to keep the 
animal's head pulled round slightly toward him. 

The horse should be reined up just sufficiently 
tightly for the head to be held in its best natural 
position. The object is to connect in the mind of 
the animal the fact of the bit being placed in the 
mouth necessitating the best natural carriage of the 
head. If the horse has a badly-formed neck, how- 
ever, no amount of reining-up can permanently im- 
prove it. 

Great care should be taken not to rein up so 



THE HORSE 157 

tightly as to cause the corners of the mouth to be- 
come sore, as is so often done. Their sensitiveness, 
upon ^Yhich the future " mouth " so much depends, 
is impaired if they have been cut and raw at this 
stage of breaking. Having got thus far, be con- 
tent to lead the horse about (by a rope attached 
to the back dee of the head-stall, and not attached 
to the bit or side dees) for some days, taking him 
into traffic, introducing him to persons and motor 
cars, and otherwise endeavoring to accustom him 
to the many things he will have to be intimately 
acquainted with before his education is complete. 
Lead alternately from the off as well as the near 
side, as, if every operation is performed from the 
near side, it will be found one day, when urgent 
necessity compels an off-side approach, that the 
horse resents that to which he has not been ac- 
customed. Also, it may be hardly necessary to 
mention, when leading from the near side, keep to 
the right side of the road when passing vehicles, 
and vice versa^ as only thus can a horse be con- 
trolled and prevented from suddenly turning his 
quarters across the roadway. 

Teaching to Guide 
Difficult horses, or ones which are to be very 



158 THE HOESE 

highly educated, should next go through a course 
of long rein driving to mouth and supple them. 
This consists essentially in driving them round 
and round in a large circle by means of a pair of 
long reins (two pairs of driving reins will do) at- 
tached to the bit. One rein passes over the back 
or round the quarters of the horse, and the other 
passes direct from mouth to hand, the superfluous 
rein being gathered up in loops ready to let out as 
required. The horse must be taught to circle in 
either direction, to turn about in the figure 8, 
and perform either at the walk, trot, or canter. 
As success depends almost as much upon the skill 
of the operator as upon the tractability of the horse, 
and as a paddock or large yard is necessary for the 
evolutions, we will not dwell on the system, ex- 
cellent though it is, but will refer the reader to 
special works which treat of the matter in detail. 
The whole system is far superior to lunging with 
one rein only, which has not the same effect, and 
which must not be confused with long rein driv- 
ing. (See Fig. 28.) 

The breaker has now -reached the stage when he 
has to teach the horse to understand and obey 
certain signals given with the rein. A good 
mouth, as understood by drivers, may be ana- 



THE HOESE 159 

lyzed as the promptness, accuracy, and precision 
with which the animal obeys the signals given 
him. This, again, depends partly upon the sensi- 
tiveness of his mouth, and partly upon the way in 
which he is taught the meaning of certain signs. 
ISTow, no one is more helpless than the man who is 
walking behind a horse and driving it in front of 
him with reins. If the smallest pony chooses to 




Fig. 28. 

Showing Horse bitted up ready to lead ; also showing Position of Reins 
in LougReiu Driving. 

bolt under these circumstances, it can hardly be 
prevented, and the driver usually ends by ignomin- 
iously letting go the reins and sitting down rather 
suddenly in the road. Having harnessed the 
horse fully, except, perhaps, for the hames and 
traces, and having passed the breeching straps 



160 THE HORSE 

through the tugs and strapped them, and fastened 
up the belly-band, put on two reins, one fastened 
to each side of the bit, being careful to leave the 
ends which pass to the hands separate. There are 
several reasons for this. First of all, the longer 
the reins, the greater the control of the man over 
the horse ; secondly, if things do not go smoothly, 
the horse can be pulled round by one rein and 
stopped ; thirdly, the danger of the man getting 
tripped up in the loop of the rein is done away 
with. 

Some instinct of the horse leads it naturally to 
pull against the indication of the rein. Thus, if. 
the left rein is pulled, the untrained horse always 
endeavors to bear to the right, and vice versa. To 
counteract this, a slight, sharp flick with a long 
whip must be given to the left side of the anunal 
when the right rein is pulled, and so on, the pull 
and flick being simultaneous, and graduated to the 
degree of turn required. It is wonderful how 
quickly the colt learns to obey the indication of 
the rein alone, its promptness being in exact ratio 
to the precision with which the double indication 
is given in the first instance. Once the horse has 
learned the meaning of the various pulls on its 
mouth — left rein, turn to the left ; both reins, 



THE HOESE 161 

stop (this always accompanied by a decided verbal 
" whoa ! ") ; " click ! " go on, etc. — he is fit to put 
into the shafts, provided he has got used to blink- 
ers, in which he is sure .to be a little strange at 
first. 

PuTTiisTG Into a Cart 

Bad starting, than which no more tiresome trick 
exists, is usually caused by {a) putting a horse into 
too heavy a cart at first ; (b) starting it up-hill ; (c) 
or driving it with tender shoulders. A very light, 
empty cart should be used, and not a heavy one 
loaded up with men, on the supposition that the 
heavier it is the less possibility will there be of 
the colt running away mth it ! 

An assistant will be required to hold the shafts 
up over the horse's back and to help to harness 
him. Everything should be done without fuss, 
quietly and expeditiously, as the whole future be- 
havior of the animal depends upon the first im- 
pression it gets of harness work. A head-stall or 
halter should be left on under the bridle to lead 
by, and a rope should be tied across the loins as a 
preventative of possible kicking. 

When everything is ready lead the colt off 
quietly, a person on each side of its head to pre- 



162 THE HOESE 

vent accidents. In most cases, if the preliminary 
lessons have been well instilled, the colt will go 
off well and quietly. For two or three days his 
work should be confined to a few miles out and 
back along all classes and gradients of roads, 
making a " round " whenever possible. At length, 
if all goes well, the breaker should get into the 
cart and drive the colt, the attendant still leading 
from one side. In a day or two both may ride, 
and the pace may be increased and the journeys 
lengthened. 

SoEE Shofldees 
A light cart, short journeys, and as small an 
amount of exertion as possible for the colt have 
been insisted on because only thus can that bane 
of horse-breakers, sore shoulders, be avoided. The 
soreness of course starts as a bruise, which quickly 
works into a sore place, and will necessitate a total 
stoppage of breaking operations at a time when it 
is most important that the work should be regu- 
larly carried on ; and it may, in addition, lead the 
colt to acquire the habit of starting badly or awk- 
wardly. Thus, at all costs, must these catastro- 
phes be avoided. If the animal is confi.ned at 
first to pulling a very light, empty cart, and is 



THE HORSE 163 

not made to sweat excessively, the shoulders will 
gradually harden of themselves, without any dis- 
organization ensuing. Of course we are assuming 
that the colt is provided with a properly-fitting 
collar. A straw collar is better than a leather 
one at this stage, and if a breast collar is used on 
alternate days, bruised shoulders may be avoided. 
In any case, if the neck becomes in the slightest 
degree bruised, stop all shaft work at once until 
it is perfectly well again. Also, daily from the 
commencement of breaking-in to harness, bathe 
the neck under the collar immediately on the re- 
turn from work, with a saturated solution of alum 
and water, which will help to harden the skin. 

Tkicks 
It must be borne in mind throughout the break- 
ing that it is a comparatively simple matter to 
prevent a horse doing that which he should not 
do, but that if he is once allowed to develop a 
trick or vice it may take months of trouble and 
hard work to make him forget it again. 

Shoeing 
A visit to the blacksmith is, of course, part of 
the necessary education of every horse, and is very 



164 THE HORSE 

often actually the first point attended to by the 
amateur horse-breaker. We do not hold with this 
early shoeing, and consider that, for a variety of 
reasons, the business is best deferred until the colt 
is so far broken as to be fit to drive regularly. 
Leaving out of the question the undue fright ex- 
perienced by an almost unhandled animal, and the 
horror and dislike with which in consequence it 
may, in future, associate a visit to the blacksmith, 
a young horse is much more likely to injure him- 
self, or do harm of some sort, if he is shod. 
Furthermore, if the breaking process is unduly 
prolonged owing to galled shoulders, the animal 
will be as well without shoes during his enforced 
idleness. The feet must, of course, be trimmed 
up, and the edges of the hoofs rasped to prevent a 
tearing out of ragged edges, and if this is attended 
to, the horse will be able to do quite a lot of work 
on dry roads without further attention. 

The dampness of our climate is one of the chief 
causes which make it impossible for a horse to do 
all his work unshod. Water softens horn, and 
causes it to become much too weak to stand fric- 
tion ; but in the case of a colt the work it does (or 
should do) during breaking is not of a sufficiently 
arduous nature to be likely to do harm to the feet, 



THE HORSE 165 

provided, of course, that the ammal has naturally 
hard and well-shajDed feet to start with — a condi- 
tion we are taking for granted. 

Driving 
The breaking-in of a colt has been treated en- 
tirely from the single harness point of view, be- 
cause a horse which will go alone will always 
work in double harness, although the reverse is 
not always the case. Once broken, a horse has to 
be mannered and taught the thousand and one 
little items, insignificant enough in themselves, 
which, in the aggregate, help to raise his value 
to that of a high-class and expensive animal. 
Many people confuse quietness with sluggishness. 
A quiet horse should be full of spirit, free and 
fast, but he should have been so perfectly man- 
nered that he never "plays up," or shows the 
exuberance of his spirits in an unorthodox manner, 
but is absolutely free from tricks, vice, or peculiar- 
ities. All this is taught by the exercise of great 
patience and attention to detail when driving the 
colt after the rough breaking-in is completed. 
First of all, teach the horse never to fidget or 
move off until the signal — a combined " click " 
and tightening of the rein — is given. Teach him 



166 THE HORSE 

to stand well and alertly, and not to rest his legs 
or go to sleep. Teach him to stop dead at a de- 
cided " Whoa ! " without any additional signal 
with the reins, as this habit may prove most use- 
ful in an emergency and always give him his 
signal in a firm, decided voice. 

In driving, always go slowly off the top of a 
hill, and at the summit pull the horse well back 
into the breeching, so as to get his weight off the 
forehand. If the animal is thoroughly steadied 
like this, and his head is kept up with a tight 
rein, he can trot down almost any hill with a 
good surface in safety. Horses most frequently 
fall on a slight hill down which they are being 
driven with a slack rein. If their weight had 
been taken off the forehand, a false step would 
not have resulted in anything worse than a slight 
stumble. Therefore the driver must be " driv- 
ino' " all the time, and must not allow himself 
or his steed to be lulled into a false sense of 
security. 

It is difficult to define the exact tension at 
which the reins should be held. It should vary 
with the gradient of the road and other factors ; 
at the same time, of the two extremes, a tight 
rein is much safer than a loose one, for with it 



THE HORSE 167 

the horse is always under control in the case of a 
sudden shy or stumble. With a loose rein he 
may fall, or shy right across the road, before the 
rein can be brought to a tension sufficient to 
steady him. 

JSTever whip or flick a horse going down-hill if 
it can possibly be avoided, and never use the whip 
unless the reins are held tightly. One of the 
worst errors the amateur driver falls into is an 
inability to keep the whip still. This is, of course, 
fatal to the freeness of a colt ; and w^e have known 
many old horses turned into inveterate plugs in 
their old age solely through this fault on the part 
of their driver. If a horse is being continually 
flicked and touched with the whip-lash, he will, 
in a remarkably ' short time, have become so 
familiarized with it that he will fail to respond. 
If the whip must be used to correct some fault or 
to stimulate, it should be used sharply and de- 
cisively — in other words, it should not be used at 
all unless it is absolutely necessary. He will thus 
always have a wholesome fear of the weapon, and 
will never develop into a plug. A sluggish horse 
may often be cured by a few thorough beatings, 
which show him that his driver intends to put up 
with no nonsense. Thei'efoi'e. if a driver cannot 



168 THE HORSE 

resist flicking his horse's back with the whip in 
and out of season, then the whip must be kept in 
its socket, so that lie may not be tempted to make 
improper use of it. 

As a rule, it is not advisable to whip a horse 
for shying. If he is really frightened the punish- 
ment will only increase his fright ; if he shies 
from high spirits, such bad manners must be suit- 
ably punished only if it is impossible to ignore 
them altogether. 

In these days of motor cars and other road 
nuisances, it is especially necessary that only com- 
petent and experienced drivers should be allowed 
on the roads. Yery often a horse shies at some 
object solely because of the nervousness of his 
driver. By instinctively tightening the reins, and 
settling himself in his seat, the driver conveys to 
the horse that something is about to happen. The 
animal becomes agitated and nervous by the un- 
usual signs conveyed by the reins, looks about 
expectantly for the supposed danger, and shies or 
otherwise displays his alarm at some object which, 
had the driver not given him the oflice, he would 
probably have taken no notice of. 

Always put on the brake gradually, and in a 
degree to correspond with the steepness of the 



THE HORSE 169 

gradient. Some people put it on hard at any and 
every hill, whereas it is more restful for a horse 
in a light vehicle to hold back down slight in- 
clines. In any case, the brake power should be 
applied notch by notch as the declivity increases, 
and should be taken off gradually in the same way 
as the bottom is approached. 



CHAPTEE XI 
Common Ailments 

A SHOET chapter will be of value on those 
minor ailments' of which every horse-owner is 
likely sooner or later to have experience, but the 
more obscure or serious diseases will be left to the 
attention of the veterinary surgeon. The rem- 
edies given are as simple as possible, as elaborate 
concoctions are often neither procurable at short 
notice in an emergency nor of any particular ad- 
vantage to any one but the druggist. 

It may be mentioned that the commonest causes 
of diseases of the bowels and urinary organs are 
bad food and water, hence in such cases an entire 
change of forage will probably be necessary. Dis- 
eases of the chest (coughs, colds, etc.) are most 
frequently due to bad ventilation, exposure, neg- 
lect ; diseases of the skin to bad grooming, bad 
forage, or barley straw ; diseases of the feet to 
bad shoeing and neglect ; and thrush, cracked 
heels, and grease to neglect and bad management. 
170 



THE HORSE lYl 

Abscess 

An abscess or swelling on the face should always 
awake suspicion of a decayed tooth, and if on ex- 
amination such proves to be the case, removal of 
the tooth is the only remedy. 

Cataekh 

Acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of 
the nose and air-passages. 

Symptoms. — Loss of appetite, staring coat, 
watery discharge from the nostrils, followed by 
swollen glands under throat, and perhaps sore 
throat. 

Caitses. — Atmospheric changes, such as when 
first bringing a young horse into the stable ; neg- 
lect ; bad management. 

Treatment. — Eemoval to a cool box ; plent\^ of 
clothing ; flannel bandages ; carrots or green food, 
and warm mashes (laxative diet). This disease, if 
taken in time, will not develop seriously, and no 
medicine is required. If, however, it is neglected 
at first, and the patient in a few days is worse in- 
stead of better, a veterinary surgeon must be called 
in, as there is always danger of complications, such 
as bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. 



172 THE HORSE 

Cracked Heels 

Chaps of the skin: when neglected, run into 
Grease. 

Symjijtoms. — Itching of the heels ; offensive dis- 
charge from the skin ; tender cracks ; general 
swelling of the legs ; sometimes lameness on first 
going out. 

Causes. — JSTeglect and bad management leading 
to deranged secretion of the skin in the hollow of 
the heel. Though often due to debility, may also 
arise from fatness and insufficient exercise. Clip- 
ping the hair off back part of the legs is another 
frequent cause. Low-bred horses, by reason of 
their weaker circulation, are more prone to this 
disease than high-bred animals, and it is frequently 
present in cart horses which are walked through 
water to clean their legs before going into the 
stable. 

Treatment. — The most important treatment is 
to cease wetting the legs. In slight cases this 
alone will effect a cure. In severer cases the 
heels must be washed dail}^ with water containing 
disinfectant to remove all dirt from the cracks, 
and then, after being thoroughly dried, they should 
be dressed with carbolic ointment. A narrow 
bandage round the pastern will afford protec- 



THE HORSE 173 

tion from dirt and cold until the cracks are 
healed. 

Colic or Geipes 

Spasm of the muscular coat of any portion of 
the intestines. 

Symptoms. — Apparent internal pain ; the horse 
looks round to his flanks ; scrapes with forefeet ; 
walks round box ; lies down and rolls, or lies down 
and gets up again ; belly frequently tense and 
swollen. When the attack is going off, the inter- 
val of time between the spasms becomes longer. 

Cause. — Indigestion in some form. 

Treatment. — The horse must be led about. 
Eriction over the abdomen will also give relief. 
The patient must be prevented from throwing 
himself down. If alternate friction and walking 
exercise do not alleviate, a dose of a drachm and 
a half of camphor and an ounce of nitric ether 
mixed with twelve ounces of water will probably 
give relief. If at the end of, say, six hours the 
horse is no better, skilled aid must be resorted to. 

COR^N^S 

Injury produced by pressure to the angle be- 
tween the crust and the bars. 
Symptoms. — A reddened appearance in the angle 



174 THE HORSE 



of the sole, and lameness. The horse will often 
start lame, and go perfectly sound after a mile or 
two, and by this symptom may a corn be recog- 
nized from other diseases of the foot. 

Causes. — Bad shoeing, and particularly the cut- 
ting away of the bars and the paring out of the 
seat of corn, whereby dirt accumulates in the hol- 
low so made and causes injury. There is also a 
predisposition to corns in flat feet and feet with 
wired-in heels, because undue pressure is liable to 
come on the seat of corn. 

Treatment. — If the cause — pressure — is removed, 
the corn will be cured. A three-quarter shoe will 
do this as a rule. Continual paring out will only 
effect a temporary cure if the pressure is not also 
removed. Some horses suffer from corns only in 
the winter when in the stable, and become per- 
fectly sound immediately they spend a portion of 
their time at grass. In such cases, the dryness of 
the feet when in the stable seems to be in part the 
cause. In any case, the most important factor in 
the prevention of corns is never to allow the 
blacksmith to pare out the seat of corn. 

Lampas 
Congestion of the blood-vessels of the palate. 



THE HOESE 175 

Symjptoms. — Loss of appetite, and, on examina- 
tion, a swelled condition of the roof of the mouth. 

Causes. — In young horses, teething. In old 
horses, very often irregularity of the molar teeth, 
bit injuries, or indigestion. 

Treatment. — If the molars are at fault, the 
irregularity may be removed by a rasp. The 
diet must consist of web bran and soft food for a 
day or two, until the inflammation subsides and 
the mouth is no longer tender. The cruel practice 
of burning the palate with a hot iron, which was 
in old days considered the recognized cure, is as 
useless as it is brutal, and is never now done. 

Mange 

Due to a parasitical insect which burrows into 
the skin. 

Symjptoms. — Minute pustules usually commenc- 
ing on the withers or croup, Avhich burst and 
coalesce and form patches of encrustation on the 
skin. The hair falls out, and the skin becomes 
harsh and sore if the horse rubs himself to relieve 
the intolerable itching. 

Causes. — Bad food, by lowering an animal's 
condition, may predispose it to " catch " mange, 
but if it is well groomed, the parasites cannot get 



176 THE HORSE 

a foothold. Mange is clue, therefore, to neglect 
and nothing else, and its appearance in a stable 
should suggest the instant dismissal of the re- 
sponsible servant. A well-groomed, badly-fed 
horse will not develop mange ; neither will a 
well-fed, ungroomed animal. 

Treatment. — This consists of killing the parasites. 
The skin should be well washed with soft soap 
and water, and, after being carefully dried, should 
be dressed with a mixture of one part petroleum 
and six parts of oil, or with some sheep dip, or 
with, in fact, almost any germicide, applied with 
a soft brush. Every day the spots should be 
washed and redressed. A change of diet is 
beneficial, and green food desirable. All cloth- 
ing worn by the horse should be thoroughly 
baked or boiled before being used again, and the 
stables should be whitewashed, as the ailment is 
highly contagious. 

Sore Back and Galls 

Causes. — Badly fitting saddle or collar, or 
awkward rider. If a horse is ridden or driven 
when out of condition, or put to a long day's 
hunting when unused to carrying a saddle, he 



THE HORSE 177 

may become tender, and if nsed again before tiie 
bruise is healed, will become sore. 

Treatment. — Entire cessation of work. The 
saddle or collar should be left on a colt for a 
time ^vhen he comes in hot from work. If the 
skin beneath is bruised, swelled, and tender, the 
place may be bathed with a strong solution of salt 
or alum and water, which Avill help to harden the 
skin. The only treatment for an advanced case 
is rest, as, if the owner continues to use the horse, 
the sore which will develop will take weeks to 
cure instead of only a few days. In any case, the 
padding of the saddle should be altered so as to 
shift the pressure. If a colt becomes tender dur- 
ing breaking, and it is undesirable to temporarily 
discontinue his education, a breast collar may be 
used for a few days. 

Grass-fed horses sometimes become girth-galled 
when first put into work. A handful of flour 
thrown on the sore immediately it is noticed will 
prevent it giving much trouble. 

Thrush 

An unhealthy secretion issuing from the cleft of 
the frog, and one of the commonest diseases of 
horses. 



178 THE HORSE 

Causes. — Bad stable management and neglect ; 
dirty stable floor ; feet not picked out ; also oc- 
casionally due to paring of the feet or high- 
heeled shoes, so that the work and pressure 
necessary to maintain the frog in health is not 
obtained. 

Treatment. — In trivial cases, when the horse is 
to be kept in work, some Stockholm tar run into 
the cleft once a week will prove beneficial. In 
severe cases, after the part has been cleansed, a 
piece of tow saturated with a lotion composed of 
a mixture of one part carbolic acid to twenty 
parts of water thrust into the cleft, and renewed 
night and morning for some days, will prove 
effectual. In chronic thrush it may be necessary 
to shoe the horse with tips, as, if the disease has 
not gone too far, the wear and pressure will prob- 
ably cause the foot to again become sound and 
strong. 

All flesh wounds should be carefully cleansed 
with warm water to remove all particles of dirt, 
etc., and should be dressed with carbolic ointment 
or lotion. The same treatment applies to broken 
knees, and, in addition, a fold of lint kept con- 



THE HORSE 179 

stantly wet with a lotion composed of one part 
carbolic acid to twenty of cold water will be 
beneficial during the first few days. The most 
important matter in the treatment of all wounds 
is disinfection. 



THE EIS^D 



Ind 



ex 



Abscess, 171 
Action, 24, 26 
Age for work, 27 
Age, how told, 31 
Ailments, common, 170 
Appearance, 26 
Arabian horses, 131 
Artificial food, 113 
Assistant, when needed, 

161 
Assistant undesirable, 155 

Bandaging legs, 120 

Beans, food value, 107 

Bedding, 79, 112, 119, 125 

Blanketing, 122 

Blemishes, 27 

Blinkers, 161 

Blister, 68 

Body, 15 

Bone, 23 

Bone spavin, nature of, 69, 

Brakes, use of, 168 

Bran, 112, 113 

Bran, liay, oats, 147 

Breaking and driving, 150 

Brushes and combs, 115 

Calf knees, 21 
Capped hocks, 77, 78 
Care of the feet, 140 
Carriage, cost of, 149 
Cart, use of, 161 



Catarrh, 171 

Catching a colt, 153 

Cavalry food allowance, 129, 

Chest, 14 
Clipping, 123-125 
Clover, III 

Coach-house accessories, 116 
155, Cold water, 138 

Colic, or gripes, 138, 173 
Collar, kind of, 163 
Common ailments, 170 
Corn, 106, 130 
Corns, 141, 173 
Cost of keeping a horse, 144 
Cow hocks, 20 
Cracked heels, 120, 172 
Curb, 29, 30, 60, 62 
Curb, history of, 65, 67 
Currycomb, 116 

70 Diet, 152 

Diseases, 170 

Dishing, 25 

Divisions of stall, 91, 98, lOl 

Doors, 102 

Drainage, 93, 98 

Driving, 165 

Driving and breaking, 150 

Dust of hav. III 



Ears, movement of, 
Eye, indications, 10, 



181 



182 



INDEX 



Feeding, cleaning, etc., 117 
Feeding value, no 
Feeding and watering, 128 
Feet, 23 

Feet, care of, 140 
Fever in feet, 24 
Fever, mud, 121 
Floors, 94, 10 1, 119 
Food, 104 

Food allowance, 129, 133 
*Foot, structure of, 140 
Fore legs, 14 
Fore and hind legs, 17 
Frequent shoeing, 142 
Frog, 24, 142 

Galls, saddle, 30 
Galls, wind, 29 
Grass, 134 
Grazing season, 135 
Groom, Avages of, 149 
Grooming after exercise, 123 

Harness, carriage, cost of, 149 

Harness room, 102, 116 

Harnessing a colt, 161 

Hay, 107, 132-134 

Hay dust, 1 1 1 

Hay, food value, I lO 

Hay, mow-burned, IIO 

Hay,' oats, bran, 147 

Hay-racks, 97 

Haying, 109 

Head, size of, 9 

Heels, cracked, 120 

Hind quarters, 16 

Hints on breaking and driving, 

150 

Hock lameness, 72 
Hock, structure of, 69 



Hocks, capped, 77 

Horse, choice of, 7 

Horses, sound and unsound, 54 

How to tell a horse's age, 31 

Keeping a horse, cost of, 144 
Kind of collar, 163 

Lameness, 66 
Laminitis, 58 
Lampas, 174-175 
Legs, bandaging, I20 
Light, 95 
Linseed, 113 
Litter, 147 
Loins, 15 
Long rein driving, 158 

Management of stable, 114 
Mange, 175 
Mangers, 96, loi 
Mark, 38 
Moths, 103 
Mouthing, 156 
Mow-burned hay, I lO 
Mud fever, 121 
Mule, age of, 47 

Neck, ii, 12 
New hay, ill 
No assistant, 155 
No spectators, 155 

Oats, 104 

Oats, hay, bran, 147 

Observations on feet, 143 

Pails, 114 
Pasterns, 13, 21, 22 
Patience, need of, 152 



INDEX 



183 



Ponies, 130, 131, 134 
Proper shoeing, 140 
Proportion, 18 
Purchasing a horse, 74, 76 

QuiTTOR, 141 

Racks for hay, 97 
Rain water, 138 
Reining up, 156-157 
Kibs, 16 
Routine management, 117 

Saddle galls, 30 

Salt, 139 

Shoeing, 140, 148, 163 

Shoulders, 13, 15, 21 

Shoulders, sore, 162 

Shying, 168 

Side-bones, 83 

Signals, 159 

Signs of age, 31 

Site of stable, loi 

Sore back and galls, 176 

Sore shoulders, 162 

Sound and unsound, 54 

Spavin, 29, 30, 68 

Spavin, bone, 68 

Spavin, treatment of, 72 

Splints, 28-30 

Splints, nature and cause, 79-81 

Stable, 87 

Stable, building of, 100 

Stable utensils, 145 

Stable ventilation, 89, 98, I02 

Stall divisions, 91, 98, loi 

Straw, III, 112 

Structure of foot, 140 



Suspicious animal, 154 
Sustained exertion, 128 
Sweat, blanketing, etc., 122 
Symptoms of ailments, 170-178 
Synovial enlargements, 77 

Tackle, 150 
Teaching to guide, 157 
Teaching to lead, 154 
Technical unsoundness, 59 
Teeth, 31-52 
Temper, 151 
Tension of rein, 166 
Thoroughbre<is, 130 
Thoroughpin, 77 
Thrush, 24, 119, 142, 177 
Treatment of ailments, 170-178 
Tricks, 163 

Undesirable horses, 66 
Unsoundness, 27, 28 
Use of brakes, 168 
Use of cart, 161 
Use of whip, 167-168 
Utensils, stable, 145 



Veterinary 



lination, 56 



Wages of groom, 149 
Water, hard and soft, 138 
Water, rain, 138 
Water, spring and well, 1 38 
Watering, 128, 136 
Whip, use of, 167, 168 
Wind galls, 29 
Wounds, 178 

Zebra hybrids, 56 



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iUN 3 1911 



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